"Attention, paladins of Voltron and rebel fighters. I know we've had our differences in the past, but –" Lotor's smirk was clearly audible – "I think it is time we had a discussion."

A solid two seconds of silence passed before the survivors of the Naxcella battle burst into uproar. The paladins listened for a moment to the startled voices overlapping on the radio.

"Uh – Allura," said Lance. "Did the gravity mess with my head, or –"

The princess' voice was a strange mixture of 'shaky' and 'icy' as she answered, "No, you heard correctly."

Everyone eventually stopped speaking, waiting for their leaders to make the next move. Lotor, as though he had been waiting for this, spoke again. "I place myself entirely at your mercy."

Allura drew herself upright. She was an Altean, after all; a race renowned for its diplomatic skills . . . And it would take all of the training and experience she had to reach any sort of resolution among the various sides – Lotor, Voltron, the rebels, and the Marmorans. It would all depend on her. She didn't know the rebels, and despite having grown to trust Kolivan, well – she somehow suspected that, despite his normally cool and calculating nature, he would be unable to deal with Lotor in a peacable fashion.

"We will meet with you aboard the Castle of Lions," she said, putting every ounce of her royal bearing into her voice. "Maintain your current position."

She switched to a different channel. "Kolivan. As soon as Coran arrives, you and your men will enter the main hangar."

On her screen, Kolivan gave her a long look – one clearly designed to remind her that she did not command him in anything. He must not have had any better ideas, though, for at last he said, "Very well. I will appoint my men to act as security during this meeting."

"Thank you," she replied. "Matt?"

"Right here, princess!" he replied eagerly. "What do you want me to do?"

She raised an eyebrow. Matt certainly was willing when it came to . . . well, when it came to doing anything she asked. Lance and Pidge both snorted – Lance with annoyance and Pidge with amusement. Shiro cleared his throat.

Allura fought a smile and her voice showed only cool professionalism as she told Matt to bring the rebels on board. "And please escort your leaders to the bridge. Kolivan will assign the others to the positions he chooses."

"Sure thing!"

The Castle of Lions burst into view and slowed to an abrupt halt. Allura felt a surge of relief upon seeing it. The whole conflict on Naxcella had taken more out of her than she cared to admit, and she was greatly looking forward to getting into more comfortable clothes. The high gravity had forced the hard plates of armor against her skin, especially around her ribs, and she had more than a few bruises.

The other paladins must have been thinking along the same lines, because Hunk spoke on their private link. "Man, I'll be glad to get out of this armor."

"Not until the meeting's over," Shiro said. "Sorry, guys."

"Hey, don't worry," Lance said breezily. "We can take it!"

"Yeah, as long as the meeting's short," muttered Pidge. "Can't we just stick Lotor in a cell for a few hours?"

"I'm afraid not," Allura said. "It would show ill will on our part – and whether we like it or not, he very likely just saved our lives."

"Huh," Matt spoke up, on the comm he had linked to theirs. Allura watched his face on her screen as she entered Blue's hangar and landed. He looked almost angry, for some reason. "He definitely saved Keith's life."

"What?" Lance sounded a little surprised. "Yeah, hey – where is Keith? Did anyone hear from him?"

"He's landing in your hangar," Matt reported. "And no – he shut off his comms after Lotor's announcement."

"Keith? Keith?" said Pidge. The sound of clicking followed, and she spoke again. "He's not answering. What if he's hurt?"

"Lotor can wait a few minutes," Allura decided. "Get over to Red's hangar immediately!"

Keith landed his small, damaged fighter in front of Red and shut off the engine. Then he just sat in the cockpit, bent over and clasping his hands between his knees as he willed himself to stop shaking. He had fully expected to die, but somehow, in the heat of battle, that thought wasn't anywhere near as scary as it was now, after the fact.

After Lotor's announcement, when the battle was suddenly over and everyone safe, the realization had hit him with the suddenness of a laser bolt, and he'd quickly shut off his comms to keep the others from hearing his loud, quick breathing. One of the thoughts that kept running through his mind was that he hadn't said good-bye to the others.

Not that there had really been time, but still. . . What if he had died? What if he'd crashed into the shield? Even worse, what if his plan hadn't worked? He might have died for no reason at all . . . He and the others were only alive because Lotor had arrived in the nick of time.

The scenario played over and over in his head. If he had decided to attack the shield even two seconds sooner, he would now be dead, and the others would still only be alive because of Lotor.

He hunched further into himself, breathing harder. He knew he was having a panic attack, but he couldn't stop it.

Someone pounded on the outside of his ship.

Keith reached for his bayard, but it wasn't there. He let out a short, sharp laugh. Of course he didn't have a bayard. He wasn't a paladin anymore. . .

Another hammering sound, and a babble of voices. Keith stared at Red, crouched majestically in front of him, and a feeling of intense longing washed through him. He wanted to fly her again.

Someone was cutting through the side of his ship now. Oh, well, he thought lightheadedly. It's pretty damaged already. Guess it doesn't matter.

Besides, this ship had never flown like Red. For some reason, right now, he really, really wanted to fly her. Or at least just sit in her cockpit, feeling the familiar controls and her purrs in the back of his mind.

A clang of metal sounded, and a rectangle of light fell across him. "Keith!"

He turned halfway, and Pidge – no, it was Matt – jumped into the cockpit. He looked angry. Keith blinked.

"Keith, you idiot!" Matt yelled. "You would have been killed!"

Keith just looked at him, unsure of what to say.

Matt stopped shouting and leaned over, helping Keith remove his safety harness. He pulled him to his feet and threw an arm around his shoulders.

"Let's get you out of here."

Keith stumbled and Matt began scolding him again in hushed undertones, even as he helped him towards the fighter's exit.

"Pidge would kill me if you died!" he said. "To say nothing of Hunk and Lance and – ohmigosh, Shiro."

Keith caught a quick glimpse of Lance, who was tapping his fingers against his leg, a tense expression on his face. The hangar doors slid open and, as though they had been summoned by Matt's words, the others rushed in. The next few seconds were a blur of color and motion as everyone surrounded Matt and Keith.

"Keith, you all right, buddy?" Hunk asked, brows furrowed.

"Did he hit his head?" Pidge demanded, leaning closer.

"What happened?" Shiro put a tentative hand on Keith's shoulder, and the former red paladin just stared at it. There it was again – that strange, all-too-familiar feeling that something was off about Shiro. Something felt wrong.

"He doesn't look injured," Hunk reported to Allura, who was hovering nearby.

"Maybe he has a concussion," said Pidge, standing on her toes to reach Keith's head. "But there's no evidence of an injury."

Matt tried to interrupt. "Guys –"

"Let's get him to the medbay," said Shiro.

Keith wanted to shake his head; wanted to tell them everything was fine. And he really wanted to ask them to leave him alone.

Surprisingly enough, it was Lance – silent up until now – who broke through the confused babble of voices.

"Guys, stop," he said, reaching a long arm through the group and pulling Keith out. "He might be in shock."

I'm not, thought Keith, but as soon as Matt let go of him, he staggered and almost fell. Okay, maybe he was in mild shock. A little.

"What happened?" Shiro asked again, turning to Matt with a worried frown.

Matt sighed. "When we realized we couldn't destroy Haggar's shields with our weapons, he decided to use his ship. He was literally just about to ram it when Lotor arrived."

Everyone froze where they were. In some part of his mind, Keith found this highly amusing, but the rest of him just waited to see what they would do.

"You – you absolute jerk," said Pidge, ripping her helmet off and flinging it aside. She threw her arms around him and squeezed as hard as she could – which, despite the hours of training she had done, still wasn't all that hard. "You could have died, and we wouldn't have known."

A loud sob followed her outburst, and Keith gave her head an awkward pat, not really sure of what to do.

Hunk sniffed. His hug was hard – a lot harder than Pidge's. He actually lifted the red and green paladins off the ground, and Keith was just about to tell Hunk he couldn't breathe when the yellow paladin set them down.

"You've gotta stop doing things like that," Hunk begged. "Are you okay?"

Keith cleared his throat and rasped out, "Yeah."

Pidge wiped her eyes against Keith's sleeve and stepped back, giving him a critical look. "Don't believe him, Hunk," she said, joining her brother, who pulled her into a one-armed hug.

Allura stepped forward next, her mouth set in a firm line. Keith almost took a step back – he was starting to feel a little overwhelmed – but she only put a hand on his arm and gave him a quick smile. "Thank you," she said softly. "But, please, never do that again."

He nodded once and half-turned towards the hangar door, automatically casting a glance at Shiro. He hesitated. The older paladin was watching him with a strange expression; he didn't look angry or worried, but hurt, somehow. While his face remained immobile, the look in his eyes indicated that he was in pain – maybe he was having a flashback? But he wasn't injured. Keith waited.

A couple seconds later, Shiro gave his head a quick shake and strode over, resting a hand briefly on Keith's shoulder. "I have to help the others," he said, a bit reluctantly, then gave him a little smile. "Get some rest." He turned to leave and nearly ran into Lance, who was still hovering at Keith's elbow.

"I'll take him to medbay," Lance said.

Shiro nodded. He and the others left, with many backward glances, and Keith finally relaxed, if only a little. He was still shaking, and wanted to tell Lance to go with the others . . . not that Lance would listen.

He tried anyway. "I'm fine," he declared, stumbling a little.

Lance steadied him and said, "You're going to the medbay whether you like it or not, Mullet."

"I'm fine, Lance."

The blue paladin replied in a high, sing-song tone. "I'm not listening." He moved towards the hangar door, still keeping a tight grip on Keith's arm. "I mean, your definition of 'fine' is 'I'm not dead', so . . ."

Keith tried to come up with a retort, but his mind was too empty at the moment. He sighed instead, looking up at his lion . . . No, he reminded himself. My former lion . . . And why am I being so negative? It was my choice to leave Voltron.

"Red misses you," said Lance casually. "She's complaining about how you're not paying attention to her. Can't you hear her?"

"I – she said that?" Keith asked.

Lance rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean. She's griping about how much you want to fly her again, but you can't sense her trying to communicate with you."

Keith stared at Red. "Sorry," he muttered, trying to concentrate. Her eyes flared gold for a moment, and a picture of Voltron appeared in his mind. The giant robot separated into five lions, and they flew in formation. Somehow he could tell that Allura was not among the paladins. Red wanted things as they had been before Shiro disappeared.

"Me, too," he said aloud. He could tell by the look on Lance's face that he was seeing Red's thoughts as well. There was a blur of images from several of the lions at once; they seemed to be agreeing on something.

"Yep, Red wants you back," said Lance again. "And it looks like Blue wants me back –"
He stopped short, staring at Keith. For some reason, they could sense three lions, separately, in their heads. Red, Blue –

"– And Black . . .?" said Lance. "I've never – We've never – What does he mean, he wants his old paladin back?"

"He doesn't mean me," said Keith grimly.

"But . . . but . . . He can't mean Zarkon."

A flash of denial from Black, along with an odd sense of guilt. Keith felt as though his stomach had dropped out. The empty feeling in its place was all too familiar – The mysterious crash on Kerberos – The months in the desert – The aftermath of the battle with Zarkon –

And, he realized with a flash of insight, most of the times that he'd interacted with Shiro since they'd found him drifting in space.

Lance looked ready to cry. "He's – he's not Shiro," he murmured.

"We didn't find him," Keith said, his voice sounding oddly distant. The realization, coming on top of his recent experience, was too much; his knees gave out and he sat down suddenly. "That's why – I knew something was off."

Lance slumped beside him. "Where is he? Where's our Shiro? And who's the other one?"

Keith sucked in a deep breath and stared up at Red. "That's what we're going to find out," he said, anger surging through his despair.

Lance pulled him to his feet, but a sudden image came from Black, so strong that it almost replaced the actual scene in front of them.

"He – he doesn't know that he's a clone," Lance said softly. "He really thinks he's Shiro."

Keith covered his eyes with one hand. "What do we do now?" he muttered, fighting a strong desire to yell at the top of his lungs. "Walk up and say, 'Hey, Shiro, we just found out that you're not actually Shiro'?"

Lance leaned over and pulled at his arm, forcing him to look up. "We'll figure it out . . . but first, we're getting you to medbay. Come on."

"I'm fine." Keith actually growled, jerking his arm out of Lance's grip, despite the fact that he was still stumbling. "We have to find out about Shiro!"

He moved stubbornly towards the elevator leading to the bridge, but Lance shook his head patiently and pulled him towards the other door. "Nah-ah. Shiro – I mean, the other Shiro – is busy with Allura. We'll deal with this when there aren't so many people on board. Especially not the Blades – no offense, but . . ."

Lance continued chattering on, and Keith, after considering his words, decided that it would be best to wait until everyone had left. Kolivan and the other Marmorans would most likely view 'clone Shiro' as a threat who had been privy to all of their plans since his rescue.

Later, then.

Unfortunately, the moment he made this decision, his adrenaline rush faded away and he was left feeling worse than ever. He swayed and walked into the wall, his head pounding as the shaky feeling returned.

Lance paused and made him sit down. "Head between your knees," he ordered in a tone that allowed for no arguments.

Keith must have blacked out, because the next thing he knew, Hunk was carrying him through the medbay doors and placing him on one of the cots. "Hey, you're awake," he said, sounding relieved. "Drink this down, okay? It's an energy drink; I put stuff in it that'll make you feel better, at least it should – Wait, you're not still dizzy, are you?"

He squatted down so that he was on Keith's level, then tilted his head sideways to peer into his face. "If you're still dizzy, it might make you sick to your stomach . . ."

"I'm good," muttered Keith, taking a sip. The drink was cool and fruity and surprisingly refreshing. His head cleared almost right away, and he gave Hunk a small smile. "Thanks."

Hunk did not smile back, and Keith hesitated. "What's wrong?"

The yellow paladin sat down on the cot beside him. "I just – Lance told me what was going on." He gave a heavy sigh. "I'm worried. About Shiro. And you."

Keith did not reply, but stared down into his glass, swirling the orange-yellow drink around and around. A few drops sloshed onto his hand, and he gazed at them for a long moment.

Hunk sighed again and toyed with the edge of a nearby blanket. "I was gonna go back to the others, but I don't think I can look at Shir– I mean, the other Shiro right now."

No kidding. "Where's Lance?"

"He let me stay here, and he went back to the bridge. Uh, and he said you weren't allowed to get up until you felt normal again."

"Yeah, well, he's not in charge," said Keith, getting up.

Hunk readjusted his headband, watching as Keith stood, lost his balance, and fell. "But maybe he's right anyway? And it's not like there's anything you need to be doing right now."

"Lotor's on the ship. He wants something."

"'Course he does," Hunk said, pushing Keith back easily. "And we have at least fifty other people on board right now, watching him."

"I can't sleep."

Hunk walked over to one of the many supply drawers and pulled out a small vial. "Take one of these. It'll make you fall asleep."

Keith considered this for a long moment. Only the fact that he was completely exhausted finally decided him. "Okay," he said. "But if anything comes up, you'll call me, right?"

"Sure I will." Hunk sounded far too complacent.

Keith narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Right?"

"Uh, yeah."