A/N: Welcome to my new story! I was so impressed by season seven that I just had to write something, and this is what came out. It's much fluffier than anything else I've written, but hopefully that's not such a terrible thing.
Also, there will be some mild spoilers for season seven, and probably bigger ones in later chapters. If you haven't watched it yet, I hope you do, because it's awesome.
The first time Veronica saw Lance, she thought he was super ugly. And he was a boy. She'd wanted a little sister, not another brother.
Her grandmother ushered her further into the room, and her mom looked up with a big grin. "Isn't he so precious?"
Veronica looked at the baby doubtfully. He was red-faced and wrinkly, and really tiny. She didn't remember Marco and Luis being this ugly.
"Would you like to hold him, Veronica?" her mom asked. "You're old enough now." She shifted the baby in her arms, and he let out a little squeak even though his eyes were still tightly closed.
Veronica remembered how they hadn't let her hold her other brothers, always telling her that she was too little. That had made her mad, but now she wasn't sure if she wanted to hold this one. What if she hurt him by accident?
"Come on, mija, you can do it," said her grandmother, giving her a nudge. "Just remember to support his head."
"Okay," Veronica said, biting her lip. Her mother held out the baby, and she took him gingerly. The blanket was soft, and he was so light. A little hand poked out of the blankets. She touched it gently and the baby wrapped his fingers around one of hers. Veronica felt her heart turn to mush. Maybe he wasn't so ugly after all. "Hi, Lance. I'm your big sister."
He opened his eyes a tiny bit and she saw that they were blue, just like hers. Marco and Luis had brown eyes like their papa. Veronica smiled. Maybe she could handle having another little brother, after all.
Four years later, Veronica was getting ready to leave to go to school at the Garrison. She was packing up her tiny bedroom so that Marco could move in and give all of the boys some much needed space.
She was just closing the last box when little footsteps came behind her and she felt tiny arms gripping her legs. She turned to see big blue eyes looking up at her. Veronica sighed.
"Do you have to leave, Roni?" said Lance.
Veronica knelt down so she could look her littlest brother in the eye. "I wish I didn't have to leave you, Lance, but the Garrison is a boarding school."
He wrinkled his nose. "A boring school? Why'd you wanna go there?"
"No, boarding school. It means I live there with the other kids instead of coming home every day like my old school."
Lance still looked confused. "Why do you wanna live with other kids instead of me?"
She hugged him. "I'd much rather live with you, but I need to go to this school so I can learn how to protect people. The Garrison protects everybody from the bad guys, and I want to be like them."
He pouted. "You already protect me from bad guys. Like Marco when he got mad at me for spilling juice on his shirt."
"Marco's not a bad guy," she explained gently. "But there's real bad guys out there, and that's why we have the Garrison."
Lance looked away from her, tears welling up in his eyes. "Kay. But I'm gonna miss you. Marco's no good at bedtime stories."
She hugged him one more time, getting a little teary herself. "I'll miss you too, hermanito."
Lance pulled away suddenly with a bright smile on his face. "I know! When I get big, I'll go to the Garrison, too! We can fight the bad guys together!"
Veronica chuckled. "Whatever you say, little guy."
Veronica hugged her pillow as she looked at a picture of her family that sat on her nightstand. She'd been at the Garrison at a couple months, and most of the time it was a lot of fun. She was learning so much, but every once and a while she got this pit in her stomach and she just wanted to go home. It didn't help that her roommate lived close enough to the Garrison that she got to go home every weekend. Veronica wished she could do that, but her family was just too far away and plane tickets were too expensive.
Her phone buzzed. Veronica picked it up and saw that it was Lance wanting to video chat. She smiled. The little guy had been so sad after she'd left that their parents let him call her every few days. If she was being honest, it probably helped her even more than it did him.
His cute little face popped up on the screen with a toothy smile. "Hey, Roni! You'll never believe what I did today!" He picked up a paper airplane and showed it to her proudly. "I made the best paper airplane ever!"
Veronica smiled. "Wow, that looks great. It reminds me of some of the planes we have here."
Lance bounced in his chair, blurring the video. "Awesome! Do you get to fly the planes, Roni?"
She shook her head. "I'm not training to be a pilot. I want to be a communications officer."
He frowned. "That sounds boring."
"It is not!" Veronica protested. "Communications officers are very important. Without them, pilots would all just crash into each other."
"Well, I wanna be a pilot!" Lance bounced again. "So that way you can come and keep me from crashing." He held up his plane again and said in his even higher-pitched make-believe voice, "Roni, Roni! I'm gonna crash into a big mountain! Oh, no!" He held up his free hand and flew his plane towards it.
Veronica played along. "Pull up, Lance! Pull up!"
Lance flew the plane over his hand and smiled. "Yay! You're the best comcashun officer ever!"
Veronica laughed. "And you're the best pilot. They're gonna call you the Tailor, because of how well you can thread the needle."
Lance looked confused, but he cheered anyway. "Yeah!"
On her first morning home for summer vacation, Veronica was woken at an unholy hour by a skinny five-year-old wearing swim trunks. "Roni, Roni, Roni! You're home!" Lance had already been asleep when she'd arrived the night before. "Let's go swimming!" He jumped on her bed, digging his bony knees into her legs and shaking her shoulder.
Veronica groaned. "Lance? What time is it?" She buried her head in her pillow.
"Time to go swimming!"
She squinted at the window. "Is the sun even up yet?"
"Mostly." Lance pouted at her. "You said we could go swimming when you got home!"
"Mmm." Veronica rubbed her eyes. "Can't it wait until later? I'm pretty jet lagged."
"But you promised," Lance whined. "And I haven't gone swimming in ages!"
She raised an eyebrow. "Because you got in trouble for running away from Mom last time."
"But Mom said I could go with you, since you'll only be home for a little while." Lance hugged her tightly around the neck. "Please, Roni?"
Veronica pulled his arms away so he wouldn't choke her. "Let's compromise, okay? You let me sleep for two more hours, and then we'll go swimming."
She was expecting more whining, but instead Lance brightened up. "I know! I'll make you the bestest breakfast ever!"
"Whatever," Veronica yawned. She rolled over and heard Lance scramble out the door before she fell back asleep.
She woke up to the smell of something burning. Veronica's eyes shot open and she jumped out of bed. She pictured Lance standing in the middle of a burning kitchen, but when she reached the kitchen Lance was nowhere to be seen. On the stove was a pan of something that was unrecognizably burnt. Veronica turned off the burner and looked around. "Lance?"
The front door opened and Lance barrelled in, holding a bunch of bananas. His eyes widened when he saw the pan of burning mess. "Oh, no!"
"Lance, don't you know not to leave something on the stove when it's on?" said Veronica. "And why were you out all alone?"
Lance's eyes filled with tears. "I'm sorry, Roni! I 'membered how much you like bananas, and so I needed to get some. I forgot about the pancakes." He came over and hugged her tightly around the legs.
She sighed. She just couldn't stay mad at this kid. "Just don't do it again. Next time, make sure you ask Mom before you go off like that." Her mom had mentioned that Lance had been running off unexpectedly a lot lately. She'd been glad to have Veronica home to keep an eye on him, but apparently she'd already failed at that.
She pointed to the kitchen table. "Sit down, Lance. I think we need to have a talk."
His eyes widened. "Am I in trouble?"
"No. I just need to make sure you understand something."
They both sat down at the table, Lance fidgeting in his seat. Veronica took a deep breath. "Lance, do you know why it scares Mom so much when you run off?" He shrugged and looked down, uncharacteristically quiet.
"It's because bad things can happen when you go off by yourself. You could get hurt, and no one would be there to help you. Mom just wants you to be safe."
"Oh." Lance frowned. "But what if I get bored?"
Veronica leaned over and ruffled his hair. "It's not going to kill you to be bored. Besides, sometimes the most fun things are the things you make up in your own head."
Lance perked up. "Like make-believe?"
"Exactly. You can do that just fine without running off. Just imagine whatever you need."
"Okay." Lance rubbed his finger along the table. "Roni?"
"Yeah?"
"How long will it be before I'm big enough to go to the Garrison with you?"
"Well, you have to be twelve, so you still have seven years."
His eyes widened in horror. "Seven years! That's like forever! You'll be all growed up by then!"
Veronica nodded. "Yeah, I will. But you know what, Lance? I'll make you a promise."
"A pinky promise?"
Veronica held out her pinky, and Lance wrapped his own around it. "I promise that after I graduate, I'll do my best to be stationed at the Garrison so that I'll be there when you're old enough to be a cadet."
"Really? Even if they ask you to go somewhere really, really cool?"
"Well, I don't always get to choose," she conceded. "But if I do, I'll do my best to stay near you." In the back of her mind, she worried that Lance wouldn't even make it into the Garrison. But thankfully, that was many years away.
Lance came around the table and hugged her. "I love you."
"Me too, hermanito." She smiled down at him. "Now, who wants to go swimming?"
Years passed. Veronica became more and more involved at the Garrison. Soon, she was one of their top cadets, and she was asked to remain there during the summer months for additional training. Her parents were very proud of her, but she felt her brothers becoming more and more distant. By her third year, Lance had stopped calling her so often. She was lucky to hear from him once a month, and he seemed less enthusiastic about it each time. She worried that he was forgetting her, since he'd been so young when she left. So she asked for special permission to go home for his eighth birthday. She'd told her parents about her worries, so they were quite happy to help her pay for the plane tickets.
When she arrived at home, Lance's birthday party had already started. Family members were entering and exiting the house, and kids were running around playing soccer in the backyard. Veronica heard a familiar whoop and watched as Lance kicked a soccer ball into an improvised net. He threw up his arms and grinned. Then he saw her by the door.
Before she knew it, she was getting tackled to the ground. "Roni! I can't believe you came!" Lance squealed. "This is the best birthday ever!"
She ruffled his hair. "You haven't even seen my present yet."
He rolled off her, looking like his face was about to split in two from smiling so widely. "I thought you were the present?" He helped her up and she gave him a hug.
"Well, it's nothing big, but I think you'll like it." She went and grabbed her luggage, pulling a small wrapped box out of her suitcase. Lance followed her, apparently having lost interest in anything else. She couldn't help but feel flattered.
"Can I open it now?" Lance asked. "Mom told me to wait for the other ones."
"I think you can make an exception for this one." Veronica watched as he unwrapped a small model plane, based on the ones cadets flew at the Garrison.
Lance took it out of the box carefully, almost reverently. "This is amazing," he said in a hushed voice. Then he grinned at her. "Guess what?"
"What?"
"Only four years left until I can apply to the Garrison and become the best pilot ever!"
Veronica felt warm inside. He really hadn't forgotten. "Well, to do that you'd better keep up with your homework. Getting in isn't easy, you know."
His face fell. "Really, homework? Shouldn't I be working on my piloting skills or something instead?"
She laughed. "Good luck getting Mom to let you do that."
He made a face. "Yeah, that wouldn't go down very well." He looked back at the model plane. "Well, I can pretend, at least." He pulled out the plane and made whooshing noises. "Watch out, team, it's going to be a bumpy ride!" he said as he moved it up and down.
"You're going to make your whole crew airsick if you fly like that," she said, steering him back inside as he kept his attention on the plane.
"I'll just have to find a crew that has iron stomachs," Lance said confidently.
"Good luck with that," she said, patting him on the back. She watched as he went over to the other kids to show off his new toy. It was nice to see that no matter how long she was gone, he was still the same Lance.
Veronica paced back and forth, staring at her phone. Any minute now, she'd be getting a call about her first assignment. She would be graduating from the Garrison Academy in a couple of weeks, and then she'd be shipped off wherever they decided to send her.
The phone buzzed, and she jumped for it, only to see that it was Lance on the phone. She growled in frustration and but managed a smile as she answered the video call.
"Hey, Roni!" Lance said cheerfully. "Have you heard yet?"
"No," she sighed. "Look, can you call back later? They're supposed to call me any moment."
"Right, sorry," said Lance sheepishly.
Veronica softened. "I'll call you as soon as I hear, okay?"
He nodded and ended the call. Veronica resumed her pacing. She wasn't surprised that Lance had called her. He was just as excited to learn about her assignment as she was. She remembered the promise she'd made him all those years ago and smiled ruefully. She hadn't realized then just how little control she would have over where she was assigned. But it might not matter anyway. It was getting more and more difficult to get into the Garrison, and Lance might not make it. In some ways, that might be a relief. With his happy-go-lucky personality, he might not fit in well here. She worried that becoming a soldier would be hard on him. But in the end, the decision wouldn't be in her hands.
The phone rang, and she jumped to answer it. Her hands shook slightly as the voice on the other end told her she would be assigned to work with Takashi Shirogane as a recruiter. Veronica stammered that yes, she did accept the assignment, and she listened as they gave her the rest of the details. When the call was over, she took a moment to process. She'd never guessed that they would make her a recruiter. But then, she had heard that they liked to use young officers as recruiters before grooming them for leadership positions. That made sense. She'd heard of Shirogane, even though he was in the class above her. He was some sort of hotshot pilot. Maybe they were put together in order to prepare for later missions?
Veronica shook her head. It didn't really matter. What worried her the most was that she would be working with hundreds of kids just like Lance. Did she really want to be the one responsible for crushing dreams like his? She steeled herself. She could do this. She was a soldier, and this would be nothing compared to some of the combat situations that her former classmates would be facing.
She put on a smile and prepared for a video call with her whole family. In the end, they would be proud of her, no matter what.
It was the end of a very long day full of over excited children and teachers eager to promote their best students. Veronica sat in the passenger seat next to Shiro, who was driving.
"I don't know if I can keep doing this," she admitted to him.
He glanced at her. "This is about your little brother, isn't it?"
She'd told him about her family several times. "Maybe. I just hate having to decide for all of these kids. I mean really, how are we supposed to know who would make the best Garrison officers? Tests only show you so much. Character is what really matters in the end."
Shiro chuckled. "Yeah, I can see why you're getting burnt out, then."
"How do you do it?" she asked.
He shrugged. "I rely on my instincts and do my best. That's all we can do."
She sighed. "I guess I think too much."
They rode in silence for a little bit, then Shiro spoke up. "Maybe you should ask for a transfer. I won't be offended, I promise."
Veronica thought about it. Asking for a transfer wouldn't look good on her record, but neither would washing out because she couldn't handle the stress. "Maybe I will." She bit her lip. "But promise me something. If you meet a spunky little kid named Lance, don't overlook him."
Shiro laughed. "If he's anything like you, that will be difficult."
Veronica got her transfer. She was now working as an administrative assistant at the central Garrison base. It was a bit of a downgrade from recruiting, but she was confident that she could work her way back up.
She still kept in contact with Shiro, though. He was going to be transferred back to the Garrison as a pilot soon, but it looked like he might stay in recruiting just long enough to be the one to evaluate Lance's class.
Of course, she heard about it from Lance long before she heard about it from Shiro. He was practically back to his five-year-old self, bouncing around so much that the video call was constantly blurry. "I think I made it!" he crowed. "I got to level four on the simulator, way better than anyone else."
Veronica smiled. "That is pretty good, Lance." She secretly worried, however, that it wouldn't be enough. Level four was pretty good, but the simulator tests were just a tiny part of the decision. "How about your grades?"
His smile faltered a little bit. "Well, not super great. But I've been trying really hard, I promise."
Veronica sighed. "Lance, you know there's a chance you might not make it, right?"
"Sure, but I just know I will! I have to! I'm obviously cut out to be a fighter pilot." He struck a pose that looked pretty ridiculous with his skinny body.
She winced a little, but tried not to show it. If he showed too much interest in just one thing, that could hurt his chances."Is that really the only thing you're interested in? There's plenty of other options."
"I told them fighter pilot or nothing else," Lance said. Veronica rubbed at her temples. What should she tell him? That he had hardly any chance? Or just let him be crushed when he found out himself?
She decided to talk to Shiro first, then figure out how to break it to Lance. She met the recruiter just as he arrived from his latest trip. He looked tired, but she wanted to make sure and catch him before it was too late.
"Hey, Shiro. Can I talk to you for a minute?"
Shiro gave her a tired smile. "Sure. What's up?"
"It's about my brother, Lance. I heard you visited his class earlier this week. I wanted to hear what you thought."
Shiro looked a little uncomfortable. "You know I'm not really supposed to talk about that with you."
"I know," said Veronica with a sigh. "It's just that I know he doesn't have much of a chance, but I'm not sure how to break that to him. He's been looking forward to going to the Garrison since he was tiny. Well, tinier."
Shiro thought for a moment. "Okay. I can't tell you if he's been accepted or not, but I can give you some advice. Let me be the bad guy, okay? This isn't your job anymore, and it's not your responsibility to tell Lance if he made it or not. Just support him, no matter what the decision is."
Veronica deflated a little. He was right. "Thanks, Shiro."
He grinned at her. "You're lucky, actually. This was my last recruiting trip. I'm going back to piloting next week."
"Congratulations," she replied, trying to sound happy for him. She was, but she was still worried about Lance.
Shiro went to head down a different hallway, but before he did, he turned to Veronica and said, "Your brother's quite the kid. He takes enthusiasm to a whole new level."
Veronica smiled. "He sure does."
After much deliberation, Veronica decided to fly home so that she could be there when Lance found out if he was accepted. It had been a long time, and she knew how important this was for him. Part of her was terrified of how crushed Lance would be if he wouldn't make it. But she had to be there to support him, either way.
When she got home, Lance was nowhere to be found. Her mom said that he'd gone swimming about an hour ago. "And you know how much that boy loves the water," she added.
Veronica did know. Swimming was one of Lance's favorite pastimes, but also one of his primary coping methods. She'd suggested a swim more than once when he'd called her upset about something or other. Now that he was nearly twelve, their mom let him swim on his own, although he'd been doing it without permission since he was five.
She changed into her swimsuit and headed down to the beach. It didn't take long before she spotted a skinny figure sitting on a rock that protruded from the water about a hundred feet from the beach. So this was a stress-related swim, then.
Veronica set out for the rock and pulled herself onto it, settling wetly next to her brother. He was staring off at the horizon with a frown line on his forehead, and apparently hadn't noticed her yet. Veronica gave him a little push, and he tumbled with a squawk into the water. When he surfaced, he glared at her.
"Roni," he whined. "What was that for?"
"Because I came a long way to get here, and you didn't even say hi."
Lance spat water out of his mouth and climbed back onto the rock. "Hi," he said moodily.
Veronica punched him playfully. "Don't tell me you're becoming an angst-ridden teenager already."
"Am not," Lance said, glancing at her. "I just don't feel like talking to anybody right now."
"I know you're stressed. I just thought you might like some company."
"Thanks," he said, returning his gaze to the horizon. Veronica let him sulk, taking the opportunity to contemplate how much her little brother had grown since the last time she'd been here. He'd always been small for his age, but he was already starting to show signs of impending growth spurts. Veronica put her foot next to his to compare. His foot was already bigger than hers.
She whistled. "You're going to be tall, hermanito."
Lance looked down. "You think?"
"Either that or you'll have clown feet for the rest of your life."
He made a face. "No thanks. I can't see the ladies falling for a guy with clown feet."
"A short guy with clown feet. And an adorable cowlick," she said, fluffing said cowlick into wet spikes.
"Stop it," Lance whined, even though a little smile was creeping onto his face. He suddenly leaned up against her, and Veronica had to struggle to keep her balance on the precarious rock. "Thanks for coming."
"You'd better not spend the whole time I'm here sulking in the ocean."
He rolled his eyes. "That all depends if I made it or not. If I didn't, I might just turn into a seal or something and stay in the ocean forever."
"You would make a really cute seal."
Lance huffed and looked up at her. "You would be disappointed in me though, right?"
She shrugged. "I'd be a little sad, but I know you tried your best. And I know you'll be great at whatever else you might decide to do. Including being a full-time seal."
Lance did laugh at that, and Veronica considered her mission a success.
The next day was the day. The entire family was tense, but Lance had become strangely relaxed. Veronica watched him having a burping contest with Marco and Luis, a little puzzled. Then they were all beaten out by Marco's new girlfriend, and all of them collapsed into laughter. Until the doorbell rang. Everyone was instantly silent, a rare feat for their family.
"I'll get it," Veronica said, as she was closest to the door. The mailman handed her a large white envelope, identical to the one she'd received eight years ago. Veronica carried it back to the kitchen and handed it to Lance, whose eyes were wide. With shaking hands, he opened the envelope. He pulled out a paper and read it, going pale.
"What does it say, mijo?" their mom asked impatiently.
Lance looked like he was about to pass out. So much for taking it well. Veronica braced for inevitable tears. But then Lance grinned and threw his hands into the air.
"I made it! They accepted me!" He turned to Veronica. "Boy, am I going to become your worst nightmare at the Garrison!"