Unexpected Twist
Disclaimer: I do not own Voltron or any of its characters.I didn't want to own Nanny anyway.
Rating/Setting: Rating is M. Setting is DotU but is definitely AU – see challenge info below.
2nd Response to Cheetoy's KAEX Challenge "A Royal Twist." "What if Keith was the surviving Arusian Royal Prince and Allura was an Earth born hometown girl turned GA Starpilot? How will the prim and proper Prince deal with falling for a strong-willed GA pilot of no royal line? Sadly, Nanny and Coran insist on a Princess for our dear Kogane... But how shall they deal with the Drule Prince(ss)? Can they find their Happy Ever After?"
Author's Notes: I had not planned a second story for this challenge but the idea came to me after some pestering from Cubbie for more KA in my "Role Reversal" story. I am not a heavy romance writer, so my readers have to wait for it. Well, not in this story as it's only five chapters… but it may not start off how you might think.
In this AU take on DotU, we are following the KAEX challenge that is listed above. However, you'll see that my writing of this Keith is much different than what I usually write and he isn't very prim and proper as mentioned in the original challenge. I hope you like my splurge. ;-)
Background
Sven, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge were the original team that came to Arus. Sven was Commander and flew Black Lion. Keith flew Blue Lion. After a year of fighting with Doom, Sven received the injuries from Haggar that occurred much earlier in the DotU timeline. Keith has moved to take Black Lion and command of the team and Garrison was contacted for a replacement pilot. I think you can guess who that replacement pilot is. ;-)
Chapter One
Lt. Allura Altaire maneuvered her small fighter into the Arusian star system. She'd be making contact with the planet shortly and she had to admit that she had a few butterflies. The Voltron Force was an elite team and her posting to the planet was an honor and a testament to the hard work that she had put in at the Academy. It wasn't that she didn't think she could keep up with the other pilots, but they had become somewhat legendary already.
She and Lance McClain had been friends since they were teenagers. They had maintained that friendship at the Academy and they had kept in touch after he had been sent to Arus. It was his correspondence that had her thinking. Lance had always been something of a playboy at the Academy and his reputation had only grown since he began piloting Red Lion. The number of girls with posters of him in their rooms was abundant. However, it was Prince Keith Kogane who formerly flew the Blue Lion that had most of the female population swooning. With his dark good looks, the girls all fantasized about being the object of a fairy tale in space. Word had it that after the war with Doom was over, the prince planned on coming to Earth to participate in combat training to further his already top-notch flying skills.
Before she had gotten the posting, Lance had written her about how the prince could put him to shame in the love life category. It seemed that the prince stayed away from the castle staff, but any staff of visiting dignitaries was fair game for the handsome heir to the throne. It was well-know that if the prince slept with any of the entourage of hopeful princess who was visiting that the prince would not be marrying that princess. Allura grimaced. At least the playboy prince had the decency to not court a princess while sleeping with one of her ladies-in-waiting. So far, Lance said, there hadn't been a visiting princess that was an option for marriage. Since quite a few had visited, the prince must have bedded a number of young women. She didn't know why she let this bother her. Lance had always been similar.
"Alliance fighter, please identify yourself," came the baritone voice over the com.
"This is Lt. Allura Altaire from Galaxy Garrison. I should be on your schedule for arrivals," Allura replied.
"Acknowledged, Lt. Altaire. I'm sending you coordinates for your inbound flight pattern. You'll be landing the Castle of Lions' Bay #2."
"I have received the coordinates and will be landing momentarily. Altaire out."
This is it, she thought. I'm here. As she flew past Black Lion on his pedestal, the butterflies in her stomach intensified. After landing in the hanger, she pushed open the cockpit cover. Tossing her bag to the floor of the bay, she pulled off her helmet and left it in her seat. Before stepping over to descend the ladder she looked into the hanger bay. The Voltron Force was there and she smiled broadly as she looked at Lance. She only spared a quick glance to Prince Keith, who, she had to admit, was every bit as sexy as the pics and vids showed him to be.
Lance chuckled as he heard Keith suck his breath in when she smiled. Without looking to the prince, who was his friend and now commanding officer, he said, "I told you she was beautiful, but you just didn't believe me." As they watched Allura swing her long blonde hair to her back and step over onto the ladder, he continued, "No way a pilot can look that good, you said." As Keith took a step toward the fighter, Lance grabbed his arm and gave him a steady look, "Just remember, she's your subordinate and my friend." With a nod to Lance, Keith headed to the fighter.
Allura felt strong hands grip her waist when she reached the bottom of the ladder. As she jumped down, the hand guided her and she laughed as she turned to face her helper. "Lance, you didn't-" Her laughter broke off suddenly as she found herself chest to chest with Prince Keith and his hands still on her waist.
With a twinkle in his eyes, Keith stepped back, "I'm sure you didn't need the help, Lieutenant. I'm afraid I just couldn't resist."
Lance stepped forward and said, "Allura, let me introduce you to Prince Keith Kogane, Sergeant Hunk Garrett, and Sergeant Pidge Stoker. Gentlemen, Lt. Allura Altaire." After a few minutes of conversation, Lance said, "I'm sure Allura would like to freshen up, so I'll take her to her room."
As she and Lance walked away from the fighter, Allura resisted the urge to look back at the handsome prince. As the bay's doors closed behind them, Lance said, "Score one for Red."
"Excuse me?" Allura asked.
"Keith and I had a bet. He said, you'd look back and I said, you wouldn't." He shrugged his shoulders. "You didn't look back, so I win round one." He could tell from her silence that she wasn't pleased with the comments. Lance smiled to himself, getting her ticked off at Keith would only help him with future bets. Allura might not like it, but he knew it would be inevitable between himself and the prince that was used to getting any woman he wanted. Of course, he'd never bet on anything inappropriate. Anything related to sex was off-limits with betting. "Here we are," Lance said. "The Alliance pilots' rooms are all in this wing. Keith's rooms are on this same level but in the Lake Wing of the castle.
"Thanks, Lance. For everything." Allura said as she entered her room. After the door closed behind her, she moved to the bed and collapsed on it. The feel of the prince's hands on her waist returned to her mind and she blushed as she thought of it. If he can make me blush by just helping me off the ladder, I'm in big trouble. With that thought in her mind, she drifted off to sleep.