Broken

By Kelly (aka allurablue4)

Copyright July 31, 2014

General Disclaimer: Voltron and its characters are a trademark and copyright of World Event Productions, LTD, St. Louis, MO. All relative disclaimers apply.

Author's Notes:

Written in response to Message #20064 on the KAEX Yahoo Group, posted June 3, 2014.

Here it is: your story must only be a one-shot (one chapter). The theme is "broken." Take that any direction you want. It must be K/A-centric, of course.

From Linda/RedLion2

Comments, reviews, and private messages containing constructive criticism, positive and negative, welcome.

"NOT A SINGLE WORD TO ANYONE!"

Commander Keith Kogane, having issued the stern order to a half dozen palace guards and two maids, made an about face and marched determinedly through the remainder of the servants' corridors, wanting nothing more than to discreetly beat a hasty path to his personal quarters, preferably unseen by another soul, living or otherwise. A steady stream of curse words, more befitting a foulmouthed sailor than a chivalrous gentleman and an esteemed Lion Knight of Voltron, flew from his mouth, muttered under his breath with a cadence that matched his angered steps. He was livid.

The reason? In his current state, he looked utterly ridiculous, and now that he'd practically run over Allura's staff while attempting to reach his chambers undetected, he felt even more so.

"Broken, my fucking ass!" he fumed, storming onward with nostrils flaring and having made no apologies to the bewildered servants who stared after him. The darn machine would have to break while he was using it. "Damn it!"

"Ohhhhhhhhohoh!" *Gasp.* *Wheeze.* N-N-Now, I've seen it 'all.'"

Raucous laughter rang throughout the Control Room as Lance, grabbing his sides, doubled over and pointed at the monitor where the security cameras had displayed the still incensed Commander on approach to his rooms. "Ooooooooooooooo! Make it stop. It-it-it hurts too much."

"What on Arus?" the planet's young monarch murmured to her advisor as she peered more closely at the unfolding scene, appalled. However, she was unable to deter her gaze from the way the thin fabric clung and outlined every inch of Keith's oh-so-very-masculine physique.

She was highly attracted to the dashing leader of the Voltron Force and had tried several strategies to get him to take notice of her, for all the good they had done. He was always so busy being prim and proper. Tilting her head to get a better angle on the "all" to which Lance had referred, she inquired, "How has this happened?"

Coran, determined to preserve whatever might remain of the Princess' innocence, quickly shifted the screen to an alternate view and activated the system diagnostics. "I can't explain it, but the Molecular Wardrobe Configuration Processor appears to have malfunctioned when the Commander returned from his patrol. It should have provided him with his flight suit in exchange for his Voltron uniform, but the equipment must be broken. I'm filling out the maintenance request as we speak. Hopefully, the matter can be rectified shortly."

"Now listen here, you hooligan! You are a disgrace to da crown, looking like dat! Haft you no manners?" Nanny scoffed, waggling a finger in Keith's face. "Dis is no vay for a man of your many accomplishments to represent da Pincess of Arus!"

Her scowl deepened as she raked her narrowed glare over the several-sizes-too-small and about-to-burst-at-the-seams, leave-nothing-to-the-imagination, pink-and-white uniform of the Princess of Arus now plastered like a second skin over the very muscular form of the Commander.

As if Keith's day couldn't get any worse, the Princess' former governess would have to choose this afternoon to clean his quarters. He wanted to find the nearest hole, crawl in, and disappear forever, not to mention that his body was now reacting to the beans Nanny had served for lunch, presenting him with a strong urge to go. Whoever had orchestrated this latest prank was going to pay dearly, and Keith had pretty good idea just whose nose was soon going to be on the business end of his fists.

Sucking a breath through clenched teeth, Keith gathered the shreds of his remaining dignity and bravely faced his accuser. "It wasn't intentional, Nanny," he defended, intestines gurgling.

"Den dis vas an accident? How dost one put on Her Royal Highness' clothes by accident? You vill explain yourself over dis at vonce! Are you von of doest men dat dress like a voman?"

Keith's jaw dropped in horror. "Absolutely not! You think I would dress this way on purpose?" Muscles rippled and flexed with the tension riddling him, pulling the uniform even tighter.

"At da moment, I am not sure vhat to tink. Dis is most unusual for you, Commander."

Keith sighed, his spirits sinking further. "This has been a most unusual day thus far, Nanny. Now if you don't mind, I've got to go."

But good as his intentions were, the moment Keith turned away and stepped past Nanny to carry them out, his bowels lurched, and an all too familiar odor of rotten eggs exploded into the air. The too-tight fabric of Allura's uniform gave way, splitting up the rear and affording Nanny a scathing view of his derriere along with the stench.

Pinching her nose and shaking her head, the governess shooed him away. The disdain on her face suggested that he not waste time.

Keith slapped a hand over his ass and waddled away as quickly as he could before the offending garment could deteriorate further or his bowels could let loose all together, his spirits completely broken.

"Well, that's just great. How did I know?" Keith, now dressed in familiar red and gas free, rolled his eyes at the team's mechanic. Hunk's diagnosis of the problem wasn't what he'd wanted to hear. From the suspension bridge, he stared down into the shaft leading to the transport shuttles and tunnels connected to the five lions, trying to get a better handle on the situation. "You're certain?"

"Near as I can tell," Hunk replied, a smirk touching the corners of his mouth. Lance had shown him the security video, slightly altered to now include a soundtrack of Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy." He elbowed Pidge to keep from chuckling outright.

"Yeah, it's broken," the youngest member of the Voltron Force conceded, scratching his head. "It's strange, Skipper, but true. I designed the time-saving device so we wouldn't have to dink around changing clothes every time Doom attacked. The transformation should have gone off without a hitch. My servos worked perfectly in all of the test runs, and you know as well as any of us that they've been running smoothly since their initial installation several months ago."

"And there's no evidence of tampering whatsoever?" the Commander, still suspicious, further prodded, not liking the look on Hunk's visage one bit.

"Nope. Nothing," Pidge flatly stated. "It doesn't make sense. We're just going to have to go down in there, tear it apart, and rebuild."

"Humph!" Keith snorted. "Well, get on top of it. I don't want a repeat of this incident."

"Yes, Sir. Right away, Sir," Hunk saluted, the smirk having spread to his entire face rather than diminishing. "But before you leave, could you just give us one last, little turn on the catwalk?"

Keith glared at his subordinate and supposed best friend. He hadn't believed Hunk and Pidge's conclusion regarding the MWCP for one minute.

Lance held up his hands in self defense. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

Arms folded across his chest, Keith tapped his foot impatiently. He'd had his fill of being the butt of what he considered infantile pranks. "I'll just bet you don't. This has your name written all over it."

"You would jump to that conclusion, wouldn't you?"

"Your record hardly gives me cause to conclude anything else."

Lance couldn't help himself and promptly provided a wise-ass grin, patting himself on the back. "I am somewhat of a legend, aren't I?" Then turning serious, Lance confronted Keith's annoyance. "You know, I'd like to take credit for this, because you have to admit it was pretty ingenious. The Princess' uniform and no tighty whiteys to boot! Takes the cake, but I swear on my reputation as the castle's resident jokester that I didn't do it. Well, except for the video montage I put together for Hunk and Pidge afterward."

Keith clenched his fists and waved them within inches of Lance's nose. "So help me, you'd better be telling the truth, because if you're not, I'm gonna make sure I pound some sense into you once and for all."

"Ah, come on. That's a tad bit extreme even for you, don't you think? So you suffered a little humiliation, and the rest of us got a good laugh. Is that really the end of the world?"

If looks could kill, Lance would have been dead a hundred times over from the glare Keith was aiming at him.

"I thought Pidge said it was an error in the tech. Can't we just leave it at that? Why must you always suspect foul play? Machines aren't perfect. Sometimes these things just happen for no apparent reason."

"And sometimes they do, especially when you're around," Keith growled, unrelenting.

"Well, the way I see it, you can either walk around all pissed off for the rest of the day, or you can take it on the chin and realize that there are bigger things for you to be fretting about. Doom could attack at any moment, and what are you going to say? That you're too busy stewing over being caught in the Princess' uniform to defend the planet? Hell, Keith, if we have to fight naked it shouldn't be an issue."

"Fighting naked?" Allura inquired, entering the team lounge. Now there was an interesting notion. She sized up the scene with some concern and sighed, hands landing on her hips. "What is going on here? Please tell me that you boys are not planning to do anything foolish that would result in something or someone being broken."

Both men looked like they might have wanted to say more, but at that moment the alarm klaxons sounded, and all else, naked or otherwise, was forgotten.

An entire month had passed before Keith's teammates had finally ceased razzing him for what had been dubbed the "Pretty in Pink Incident." It had taken far less time for Pidge and Hunk to repair the MWCP, but their initial diagnosis stood. The machine had simply broken. End of story.

Outside of the random equipment failure and the latest attack on Arus, which had occurred the same day, everything was peaceful and running smoothly once again. Allura had decided to take full advantage of the lull in enemy activity and had made a request of Keith to provide her additional training in the lions, martial arts, stealth maneuvers, battle strategies, and anything else he felt would benefit her position as a member of the Voltron Force.

"I really feel like I'm accomplishing something, Keith," the Princess proclaimed proudly, smoothing back loose curls into her bun and adjusting the pins in her hair. They had just returned to the castle from their lions, and she was ecstatic, adrenaline coursing through her veins. I hope you are proud of me."

Keith didn't say anything in reply. He was busy thinking.

Allura adjusted her blouse while continuing to speak. "All this extra time together has significantly improved my scores in the simulated drills. Even the boys have taken notice. Each of them has complimented me more than once on the positive changes in my performance. Just wait until Doom tries something. Won't they be surprised at what I can do! I've really worked hard to hone my skills."

Keith still didn't respond.

"Commander?"

"Mmhpft!"

"Was that a grunt?"

Allura stepped out of chamber number four and poked her head around the corner of the MWCP into the section designated for Keith. There he stood in all his naked glory, not a stitch of clothing or any other means of covering to be seen. Just perfect.

As his horrified gaze met Allura's, he forced himself to speak. "Geez, Princess! Could you least try not stare so hard at me?"

But instead of ducking away, she stepped into the open archway, affording herself a full view and then fixating intently upon the stiffened shaft.

Wrong choice of word! Keith would have kicked himself if he wasn't in such an awkward predicament. Flustered by his error and her presence, he panicked, feet shuffling clumsily as he tried to dance out of view, although there was nowhere to hide. Embarrassed at the manner in which his body had responded to her, he immediately covered what he could with his hands. "Please Princess . . . ," he pleaded, sighing.

Allura met his eyes once more as an expression of extreme satisfaction filled her countenance. He was definitely taking notice of her now. She winked at him with a bit sexy sass, shrugged her shoulders, and simply stated, "Sorry. Broken."