Disclaimer – I don't own Voltron: Legendary Defender or One Day at a Time (2017). This is written for my 2017 prompt challenge number 12, which is for the ChickLit genre. The story focuses on the theories of Shiro and Keith being brothers and Ryo being Keith's twin. It also uses the idea of Lance being Lydia's grandson.
I'm surprised there aren't more crossovers between these two (ones not written by me) as they're both Netflix series, the family in ODaaT 2017 is Cuban like Lance and Elena is an LGBT character.
Mama Knows
She wasn't expecting the phone call per say.
In fact, with the news that Lance Riera had disappeared with a few other students, she figured the next call would be the fact they found the kids, hopefully in one piece. She was, in fact, the closest relative outside of the garrison psychiatrist to the kid, and her niece had promised that she would get a call if Lance showed up.
"Aunt Penelope?"
"Mi sobrino pequeño!" Penelope let out a sigh. "Estás a salvo."
"My darling grandson at the garrison's been found?" Lydia piped up, a sparkle in her eye. Both Elena and Alex's heads shot up.
Alex smoothed back his hair. "So, cousin Lance is going to come and visit?"
His older sister, however, shushed him very quickly.
"Yes, yes. I'm safe auntie." Lance took a deep breath. "And I'm not small!"
"What the hell do you think you're doing worrying us like that, niño! You take off with a bunch of your friends, disappearing for months! The garrison's not even giving me details, so…" The typical 'Cuban' lecture in the Alvarez family started up.
"We were out being defenders of the universe."
"What?" Penelope startled. "What does being defenders of the universe mean?"
Elena began to laugh into her morning breakfast, while one of Alex's eyebrows shot up. The younger Alvarez turned to his sister. "Hey, is our primo in trouble?"
"Probably."
"More importantly, do you remember when you talked to me about, oh, say PTSD…"
"You said you were okay! That's not okay!"
"No! Not me. A friend. I have a friend who…" Lance took a deep breath on the other side of the phone. "¿Tía hablas a él?"
Penelope took a deep breath. "How bad is it?"
"What is wrong with my Lance?" Lydia piped up, sniffing as she did.
"No. A friend of his."
"Pretty bad. He managed to almost make Keith of all people cry."
"Keith isn't he…"
"The kid Lance really, really hates." Elena piped up.
"You mean his rival." Alex spooned some food into his mouth. "The one that never acknowledges him for his achievements."
"I think your cousin is exaggerating the truth on that," Penelope spoke to her children aside.
"Um. I'm not exaggerating. Keith still looks like he's going to cry, and has left the room they've given him. In fact, he's sulking in the middle of his bed, acting all pissed off with the world again. Actually, that's kind of normal for him, but it's more along the lines of being pissed off with the universe. Which I really can't blame him, what with his mother… or maybe it's father… being an alien, and not just any alien, but the alien species that wishes to wipe out the entire galaxy? Yeah…"
"What do you mean aliens?" Penelope took a deep breath. "May I please speak with your sister?"
Alex's eyes went wide, while Elena's eyebrow shot up. The older of the two continued to laugh. "I knew our cousin was el loco."
"Was the reason Lance away because he was helping refugees enter our country?"
"No abuela, she means the other kind of aliens." When Lydia simply stared at her granddaughter, Elena pointed up to the sky.
"Oh, that kind." The older woman's tone of voice strained slightly with the emphasis, and she nodded her head.
"Aunt Penelope?"
"Lance just told me something really weird."
The young woman on the other side of the phone sighed. "Let me guess? Aliens?"
"Yes." One of Penelope's eyebrows shot up as she heard her niece begin to chew Lance out for giving out top secret information. The single mother of two let out a deep sigh, wondering what the world had come to.
~V-O~
"So, we're going to see cousin Lance?" Elena sat in the back of her mom's car, looking out the window in boredom. Dwayne nudged her from the middle seat.
"Do you think our primo can get us time in the simulator?"
"Yeah. Can our primo get us time in the simulator?" the superintendent of their building piped up.
"I think your prima is more likely to be able to do that chicos." Penelope shook her head, her lips pushed together in worry. She couldn't believe the man had convinced the Alvarez family to take him with them, but Lydia reminded him that Dwayne, despite not being blood Cuban was, in fact, Cuban and very much a part of the family. If there was one person one never argued with, it was the family matriarch.
"Don't worry." Lydia smacked Penelope with one of her handbags. "My Lance will be okay."
"Yes, mother." Penelope shook her head, showing her identification at the gate. When she was in the military, her route after that would be different, but she found herself heading to the place civilians waited for someone else to either bring their family members to them or to take them to their family members.
"Aunt Penelope…" A young Cuban woman stood in the room, pushing up her eyeglasses. "It's good to see you."
Alex leaned over. "Is it just me, or does she look like a very young abeula?"
"Excuse me?" The young woman seemed to overhear the conversation.
"My brother means you look like abuela when she was younger."
"If you'll follow me…" The woman stopped, staring at Dwayne. "Who is he?"
"This is my other son." Lydia piped up. "The one I adopted a few months ago."
"Yup. Schneider is definitely now officially Cuban."
"The name makes me think he's German."
"I take offense at that!" Dwayne blurted out, then glanced to the side. "Wait. I think I do."
"Well, I need to get clearance for him. Hold on a second." The young woman called into Iverson. "They say his name is…" She paused, as they gave his name. She then turned back to look at him. "So, you're one of those Schneiders."
"Yup."
"I guess I can let you through, but what you see is being kept highly under wraps right now. Lance is bad enough letting Aunt Penelope know what he did over the phone." The young woman in question led them to a vehicle after having them sign papers. Alex suddenly choked up, unable to speak due to the fact the vehicle in front of him was a state-of-the-art hovercraft, and he was getting to ride in it. As they rode, they noticed what seemed like a state-of-the-art spacecraft that was out of the league of anything previously produced.
Penelope narrowed her eyes, and pushed her lips together, knowing something was up. She got, as her nephew referred to it as, her mamá oso vibes. They arrived at one of the facilities used for housing officers and their families. Upon walking in, she noticed the three teens sitting around the television playing a video game. Dwayne rushed over, rather excited. "Hey, isn't that a…"
"Yeah…" The smallest of the three boys stated as they pushed up their glasses.
"Can I play?"
"Who are you?" The rather large kid looked up, rather taken back by the stranger, his eyes going wide.
Lance, however, turned his head, dropping his controller. "Abuela! Tía Penelope!" The sixteen-year-old rushed over, wrapping his very long arms around the frame of his small grandmother, pressing his cheek against hers as he smiled, before scooping his two cousins into another hug. Penelope thought at first that Lance wasn't going to hug her, but instead… "I saved the best for last!"
His arms wrapped around her, and suddenly he started bawling. Her hand reached up to pat his head. "I missed you too, el sobrino."
Lance pulled away, wiping his nose unceremoniously on his sleeve, before pointing at Dwayne Schneider. "Who's he?"
"Your new uncle." Lydia piped up, puffing her chest up.
"Oh." Lance proceeded to do the same. "Then let me introduce you to your new nietos, abuela." He pointed to the smallest. "This sultry one is Pidge."
"You're way too pretty to be wearing those close, la chica." Lydia folded her arms across the chest and nodded disapprovingly.
"Wait…" Penelope took a deep breath.
Elena leaned over, whispering into her ear. "I could tell."
Pidge simply glared, while Hunk turned around. "I'm Hunk, and I like to cook."
"I bet he'd enjoy learning to cook with you abuella."
"You mentioned something about one of your friends suffering from PTSD, but having gotten so bad that he upset that kid you don't like."
"Ah, you mean Shiro and Keith."
Penelope turned to address the person in question, only for her jaw to drop upon seeing the red-haired man. A red-haired man who was definitely an alien. She took a deep breath, attempting to keep her composure.
~V.O~
"Would it be all right if I talked to Keith first, to find out what happened?"
The answer was a definite yes, as Penelope let the shock of meeting an alien sink in. They were Altean, their enemy Galra was the brief explanation from the man. She followed the alien called Coran to one of the bedrooms, not noticing the rest of her family following after her. The alien knocked on the doorframe. "Princess, someone is here to see Keith."
A very beautiful alien female looked up at her from the chair she sat in, and Penelope heard her daughter gasp. Looking over her shoulder, she watched Elena duck her head behind Lance, attempting to hide her blush from the world. Her nephew turned his head, watching her carefully before the corner of his mouth twisted up slightly. Alex's jaw dropped, and he muttered something in Spanish about the beautiful angel.
"Yeah, and she's so into me." Lance attempted to do that weird face thing Alex did when he was showing off his looks, and yet this was directed at the young lady in front of Penelope. He held up his thumbs, but the girl instead rolled her eyes in disgust.
Penelope shook her head, stepping into the room. A young man sat on the bed, his legs crossed and a red coat in front of him. The boy was also in desperate need of a haircut and looked like he could use a hug. Tears were indeed threatening to spill out, but from holding back his temper rather than the reason Lance implied. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her mother surge forward, walking over to the boy as her grandmotherly instinct kicked in. Her soft arms wrapped around his shoulders, pulling him into the needed hug.
"Wh…"
The woman rubbed the boy's shoulder, and yet Penelope couldn't help but notice that her mother's usual touch didn't seem to have the needed effect. Lydia then pointed at the princess. "Is this beautiful angel your girlfriend?"
She watched both sixteen-year-old boys both become mortified for different reasons. Lance was because his grandmother just assigned the girl he was crushing on as the girlfriend of another young man. Said young man seemed to be at the stage Alex was in regards to girls. The girl in question blinked, a blush spreading across her cheeks. "We're not dating. Actually, what is dating?"
"If your alien species are angels, then are the Galra demons?"
Keith tensed up completely, the mortification growing. Penelope took a deep breath. "Out. So I can talk to him alone."
She heard the grumbling as the left from everyone but her mother, who promise the young man a treat to cheer him up. The teen cleared his throat, the discomfort all too obvious. "Um. Who…"
"I'm Lance's aunt." Penelope plopped down on the edge of the bed. "She asked me to talk to another friend of yours about his PTSD." She watched the boy flinch, then watched his eyes closed, his breath drawing in quickly. "He also said something about it having a negative effect on you, but the other boy doing something that made you upset."
"I can't talk about it."
"If you don't talk about it, I threaten to hug you. But I might hug you even if you do talk."
"Um…" Keith shook his head. "It's complicated."
"Lance also said something about one of your parents being an alien. Let me guess? Galra? The one my mother called demon?" She watched the boy's mouth twitch, and she reached out to rub his shoulder, feeling him tense up. "I apologize for what she said, my mother, and Lance's abuela."
"Not all of them are bad. Just…" The boy's fingers clutched his pant legs. "… most of them."
"So, what happened between you and your friend?"
"Shiro and I aren't friends." The boy startled, twisting a bit to the side.
"Was what happened that bad."
"No. I mean Shiro and I aren't friends."
Penelope felt her eyes widened, wondering what the boy was trying to get at. "I'm not following."
"We don't talk about it." Keith had almost turned towards her then but instead turned away, sulking as he did so.
"Maybe it's time to start talking about it?" The woman watched the boy. "In case Lance didn't tell you, I served. So maybe I can help Shiro out?"
Finally, the boy turned towards her, the pain rather evident in his eyes. "We have the same father. Or at least, I think we do. He used to always tell me we had the same mother as well, but…"
Penelope felt one eyebrow go up, and her hand moved as her finger pointed, her tone becoming stern. "So you're telling me this isn't a PTSD issue, but a family issue?"
"Shiro does have PTSD. How's that not a family issue?"
"No, you're right." The woman watched him carefully. "It is a family issue. My ex, he's also military, but unlike me, he didn't try to get help. There were other issues mind you, but he wouldn't stop drinking. He even lied about it." This brought a flicker of worry across the boy's face. "I'm not saying your brother will start drinking to cope, or anything like that. He hasn't hurt you, has he?"
Keith's eyes narrowed, his arms wrapping around his small frame. "No. It's more like, he's become even more protective than he was before, and yet he's pushing me away at the same time. I should never, ever have tried to find out about my mom."
Penelope's eyes widened, and she clucked her teeth together. "Come now. You don't think all of this is your fault?"
The boy looked her in the eye then. "I had family right there all along, yet I was so desperate to find out the truth, I didn't think what it would do to him. And I knew he was having issues, this PTSD stuff."
"I see you're really close. My Elena and Alex don't get along as well as you two do."
"Shiro's not just my older brother, but also my parent. What I did was tell him none of that mattered."
"Exactly how long has he been acting as your parent?"
"Since my dad died. Years. I don't remember what my mother looked like, which is probably for the best, but I barely remember him either. I just remembered thinking my mom was an alien, and that she was out there somewhere. Everyone told me I was delusional and trying to compensate for the fact my parents were dead by making up lies, but Shiro didn't. He purposefully adjusted his reality to mine, even though he didn't believe it. And now he's forced to believe something he didn't necessarily want to."
"Have you asked him?"
"No." Keith turned, looking her in the eye. "You know, despite the fact you're an adult, you're actually pretty easy to talk to."
"I am! Would you please tell my daughter and son that? Because they certainly don't see it that way." Penelope watched a smile start to flicker across his face, and she pinched his cheek. "About time you smiled."
"Is this what moms are supposed to be like? I mean, minus the funky cat ears and purple skin?"
The woman blinked, her mouth opening into a circle. "Um, yeah. Minus the funky cat ears and purple skin."
Penelope let go of Keith's cheek. He rubbed his cheek, but also didn't act embarrassed. "That's good to know."
"Normally kids get embarrassed by their moms, and aunts, and grandmothers doing stuff like that."
Keith's eyes widened. "My grandmother hates me, but she gives really nice hugs."
"Okay… I feel like I'm missing something here." Penelope watched as Keith tensed up slightly. "You don't act like a normal kid your age."
"Oh…" The teen looked away and began to worry his lip. "That is I guess…"
"You said you found me easier to talk to than other adults."
"Well, up until now you didn't jump to conclusions, and treat me differently."
"Why should I treat you differently?"
Keith continued to worry his bottom lip. "Because…" The teen took a deep breath. "I'm autistic. I don't get social situations."
Penelope let out a laugh, placing a hand on her heart. "That's it?"
"Yeah, that's it."
"For someone with autism, you're actually doing quite well interacting with me. You actually let me touch you and pinch your cheek. The fact you're comfortable around me, well, I feel lucky that you and I just met, but you're willing to trust me. And let me guess, you don't normally let people know you're autistic?"
"I get treated differently." Keith looked at the bed. "Shiro's the reason I'm able to react with people as well as I do."
"I can believe that." Penelope sensed her tone change slightly, feeling a little closer to the kid. "So, exactly what happened between you and your brother?"
"I asked Shiro if, now that we've returned to Earth if I could live with him again. He said no."
The woman felt her heart sink. "That's it?"
"I know for other people it's not a big deal, but…"
"No, no." Penelope held up her hand. "It is a big deal. I know where you're coming from, kind of. Is this why you think you hurt him with trying to find out about your mother?"
"Yes. Why else would he say what he did?"
"Because PTSD can make you hurt the people you love."
Keith looked up at her. "Shiro would never do anything to hurt me. He wouldn't. He goes out of his way…"
She watched his head sink down. "And yet you really thought he didn't want you around because you hurt him? No. I think he's trying to put your best interests ahead of his own."
"He's stupid for that." Keith let out a sigh. "I hate that. That's why I hate being…" The teen fell silent, then looked her in the eye. "Shiro would never hurt me!"
"I also thought the same thing about my ex. Do you know the difference between doing something intentionally and unintentionally?"
"Yeah. I do a lot of things unintentionally. Sometimes I do things intentionally, not realizing I shouldn't do them."
"Well, it's kind of like that. With PTSD the person does exactly that? Does that help?"
"Yes." Keith titled his head. "But if Shiro was able to deal with my issues, why can't I deal with his?"
Penelope thought about his question for a few minutes. "This is coming from someone who's a parent here, but it's our job. It's our job to take care of our kids and love them unconditionally. Mi madre would say the same thing. It's also, though, our job to make sure we're not a burden on our kids."
"He's not a burden." Keith took a deep breath. "I didn't like it when he disappeared on us paladins, but not after the Kerberos mission either."
"Wait…" Penelope took a deep breath. "Shiro, as in Takashi Shirogane?"
"Yeah. Pidge's brother and dad were on that mission as well, and we're still looking for them."
"Then you're related to Commander Shirogane?" The woman watched the boy remain silent, his mouth pushing together. "What?"
"My last name is Kogane."
"Yet you said Shiro is your brother?"
"My grandmother's not the only one who hates me." It was sad how serious the young man was. "She's just the one who hates me the least. Except for Shiro of course."
Penelope took a deep sigh. "How about I go and talk to him now? See if I can help him out?"
~V~
She knew Takashi Shirogane's rank and age, but also that he outranked her own rank from when she was in the military. It was hard not to know about due to the Kerberos mission being all over the news. However, even as someone in the military, she wasn't quite prepared for what she saw when she entered the room Keith led her to."
"Shiro?"
The nineteen-year-old looked up. "Keith, I…" The teen was sitting on his bed, attempting to read a book. His black hair had turned white at one spot, a nasty scar ran across his arm, and his arm was replaced by a mechanical arm. The teen seemed all too wary of her. "Who…"
Penelope rattled off her rank and name, before continuing with, "I'm Lance's aunt. He asked I come and talk to you."
"About…" The teen was certainly on the defense, but she couldn't blame him.
The woman looked over at Keith. "Could I talk to your brother by myself?" The younger of the two left, not saying anything. When she turned back she saw Shiro straightening himself into a better sitting position. "So…"
"You actually know?"
"You mean about you and that kiddo being siblings?"
"It's not something we talk about. It's always been one of the things that set him off. He's kind of…" The teen looked away. "Got a temper."
"He also told me about his autism."
"Wow." Shiro's voice strained, the depression all too evident despite his attempt to hide the problem. "He actually talked to you about that despite the fact you just met? That's…"
"I threatened to hug him."
The boy's dark eyes blinked, and suddenly he burst into laughter. "That…" The teen wiped a tear away. "That's so…"
"It feels good to laugh, doesn't it?"
"Yeah, it does." Shiro took a deep breath, before looking her in the eye, his mouth twisting into a frown. His jaw set firmly as if he were accessing the situation in front of him.
"It does help to talk to others about it." Penelope watched his reaction carefully.
"It?"
"Please, don't be in denial about it like my ex was." The woman spoke in a matter of fact manner. "I've gone to group every week and can attest to the fact it does help. It makes you feel normal, even when there are times you don't."
"Oh." A smile flittered across his face. "I'm not sure though I can exactly talk about this. I mean, there aren't going to be many my age. Or who've been taken prisoner by aliens, put into an arena as a gladiator to fight, or had their arm removed purposefully and replaced with a mechanical one simply because they want to turn you into a weapon."
"No. I admit I can't relate to that, or that it is something you can talk about to just any soldier. I had to sign a secrecy agreement." Penelope folded her arms across her chest. "I can though relate to how you're feeling. You feel like things will never be normal again, don't you?"
Shiro didn't respond and simply hung his head.
Her response to this action was to pull up a chair and sit down backward, her chin resting on the back of the chair. "Don't you think that's shaping your decision not to let your brother move in with you?"
The teen looked up, taking a deep breath. "Keith doesn't need me anymore?"
"Bull. It's obvious to me that kid needs you, even if you can't see that just yet." Penelope frowned. "Also, he thinks he's hurt you."
"What? No. Keith could never hurt me. Not intentionally. He tries so hard to make me proud of him. In fact, I am proud of him, taking over the leadership position for Voltron when I disappeared. It's hard for him to see how amazing he is, as not many people have seen the potential he has."
"Funny how he said something similar about you. You're worried about hurting him, are you not?" Penelope watched Shiro open his mouth, only for his lips to snap shut and his eyes divert. "I thought so."
"He's on his way to finding our mom. His mom. I honestly don't know what it is. I really should have been the one to give him answers regarding our parents, but even I've been left out of the loop. He's found what he's always been looking for, and I can't begrudge him that. It's what I've always wanted for him, and if I get hurt in the process, it doesn't matter."
"Talking to him, it does matter. He thinks by finding out what he did, that he's losing you."
"That…" Shiro stopped, looking up again. "I don't want him to get hurt. He's been hurt enough as it is."
"You can't go through life getting hurt. The fact you're not taking care of yourself worries him. I worried my kids and mi madre when I didn't take care of myself."
"What am I supposed to do?"
"I don't know, except to take things one day at a time." Penelope poked a bit. "What's with that brother of yours saying everyone but you hate him?"
She watched Shiro's eyebrows shoot up, the corners of his mouth twist up slightly. "That?" The teen closed his eyes. "On top of the fact Keith's autistic and not able to read people well, there's the fact some people in our family don't like our mother."
"They know she's an alien."
"No. She got our father to fall in love with him, disrupting the marriage plans and social order in our family. There might be a few who know, but as I said. I don't have the answers."
"So whatever you went through while you were imprisoned isn't the only thing you're dealing with?"
"Nope."
"Well, I was already aware of the fact you've acted not just as a sibling to your younger brother, but a parent. He's admitted as such."
"So?"
"You did a good job with him. He's a great kid."
"Thanks."
"And he still needs you."
"Yeah. I can't think of what else he needs my help with."
"How about talking to him about girls? I know that I'm having to talk to my oldest about that subject now."
The teen shook his head. "No. Keith's only been interested in space vehicles, motorcycles, my manga, and anime. Not girls."
"So according to you, he's interested in boys." Penelope watched Shiro think over that question for a few seconds
"No…" The teen shook his head. "I don't think you understand what I meant. I mean the subject goes over his head completely. He's just… Keith." The woman's lips pushed together. "What?"
"Oh, I believe you when you say the subject goes over his head completely. That doesn't mean he's not interested, or curious." She watched the young man's eyes widened in horror. "Specifically, I think he's got a crush on that princess."
"Allura?" Shiro closed his eyes, shaking his head. "No. The last time I checked she was giving him the cold shoulder because he found out about his Galra blood, and was very open with her about it. I can't blame her because they annihilated her entire people except for her and Coran, but he's still my brother."
"They seemed to be getting along very well." Penelope let one eyebrow rise up. "She stayed with him while he moped in his room."
"I'm not sure what to think about that."
"Oh, it's not something a parent stops worrying about."
"Are you sure? I mean, not about the stop worrying part, but the fact he's interested in Allura"
"Nope. But mi madre is." Penelope nodded her head towards the door. "Knowing her, she's fixing a traditional Cuban meal right now. Still, we need to address the fact you said no to your brother living with you. Are you sure that's what you want?"
"What I want doesn't matter."
"Because you feel you need to focus on what's best for your brother?"
"Yes."
"He wants to live with you but wants you to be a part of his life. He was upset you said no. Don't you want to be a part of his life?"
Shiro tilted his head to the side, then sighed. "I do. But I don't want him to give up on finding our mom, or his mom. Whichever it might be."
"You do realize there is such a thing as DNA tests." Penelope watched Shiro flinch, then rub the back of his neck. "What? Have you already done one?"
The teen's mouth twitched. "The person to ask regarding that is Ryo."
"Who?"
"Keith's supposed twin brother who's not autistic…" The teen used air quotes. "… and who we don't talk about as it sets Keith off big time. And yes, those results were positive, but went right over Keith's head."
Penelope bristled a bit. "So you treat them differently?"
Shiro's jaw moved as if he were grinding his teeth together, then spoke up. "It's really hard not to when Ryo's always finding ways to antagonize Keith. Ryo's outright rejected Keith, and I can't let him get hurt like that. It's just over, and over, every single time. The fact Keith's autistic. The fact he believed mom was an alien. It wouldn't matter that Keith was right either. I don't expect you to understand."
"No. My daughter actually went through something similar with her father, my ex. He turned his back on her, rejected a part of her that is part of who she is, and that she can't change. Mi Elena is who she is, a beautiful young lady. But his twin?"
"Yeah. His twin. The fact our father raised them separately likely doesn't help."
"Last thing. Do you know what triggers an episode for you?"
"No. It actually doesn't help that my memories are kind of messed up. I do know I don't like the infirmary. Cryostasis, yes. But not the infirmary." Shiro looked at his arm, flexing the hand. "Oh, and I've got major issues that the Galra replaced my arm with a weapon. Not all of them are bad. One helped me escape back to Earth. He even gave his life for us later on. I probably shouldn't say any more about this."
"Do you sleep by yourself at night?" Penelope watched the teen startle.
"As if I'd bother Keith with the nightmares I've been having."
"And I wouldn't want to bother my mother with mine, but she insists. It helps. And do find someone to talk to."
The teen smirked. "Yeah. Thanks for talking to me."
"You're welcome."