Author's Note: This is a short story about the night the Lions went crazy on Wade's account, followed by its repercussions on the Voltron Force and on the rest of Galaxy Garrison. It goes along with my other stories, but if you haven't read them, don't worry about it - you'll catch on quick.
I own nothing except my characters, and I do this for fun/stress relief purposes only, and not profit.
Part 1: "Lights" by Ellie Goulding
Earth. For all its flaws and faults, there really was nothing else like it. And if there was nothing like Earth, then there was really nothing like New York City.
That was what Hunk kept telling the princess, anyway.
"Oh man, this is gonna be so frickin' SWEET!" he roared, almost louder than his Yellow Lion. "Dude, do you guys realize we haven't been on Earth in, like, what? Four, five years? Maybe six? I can't keep track."
"Yeah, it has been a while, Hunk," Lance agreed. "So, are we going for pizza at some point?"
"Well, we have to," Allura shot out at her teammates, laughing. "Since you guys landed on my doorstep, all I've heard about is your infamous New York thin-crust pizza. If I don't get to try it while we're here, I'm going to be very upset with all of you."
Pidge cracked up. "I'm game. It's been awhile. And you know, as much as I love Nanny, her pizza's not the greatest."
"Blech!" Hunk agreed. "She's a good chef, yes, but she's definitely no pizza chef."
"I think you've gotta have Italian roots to be an amazing pizza chef," Lance added. "I mean, let's face it, nobody goes to Chinatown looking for pizza."
"Way to go, Lance. Only you could be both politically incorrect and ethnically insensitive at the same time," Keith chimed in. "I think that might be a record." But somewhere in the scolding, there was a teasing tone. Captain Kogane was finally at ease, knowing that the forces of Doom had finally been defeated. It was the biggest relief of his life. Now all they had to do was enjoy the celebration.
It had been a long, long time coming. Each member of the Voltron Force had sacrificed some part of himself and his life on Earth for Arus, some of them more than others. Keith lost Morgan, his Academy sweetheart, as well as - not that he necessarily would have done it - the chance to forge a relationship with his sister. Pidge had been separated from his twin brother, Chip. Lance had lost Cliff and Aidan, his partners in crime. Hunk lost Cinda, his female counterpart in engineering. They had all lost Sven, though at least he was physically healed now. Speaking of the Norwegian, Sven had lost his Academy sweetheart as well as nearly losing his life.
Not that Allura hadn't lost almost everything when Zarkon attacked. She'd lost her entire family and control of her planet for a long time.
Again, this celebration was well-earned, and it had definitely been a long time coming. They deserved a little happiness after all of their sacrifice. And a little pizza wouldn't hurt, either.
Morgan Rackens absent-mindedly rubbed her engagement ring and wedding band with her thumb. Since her engagement and marriage to David, she felt like she had been living in a dream - her own personal bubble of happiness. This was the first blip in her blissful state.
"Morgan, are you sure you can handle this?"
"I've got no other choice, Len," she replied, turning around to face her oldest friend. "I mean, it's not every day that the Voltron Force defeats the forces of Doom and the Garrison throws a celebration in their honor." She paused, gazing at her friend in uniform. "Oops. Sorry, I didn't mean Len, I meant Space Marshal Stensson."
"Shh! It's not official yet." Lenora Stensson put a black-lacquered finger to her lips. "I mean, it is, but I have to make it through the transitional period first. And I don't know how I feel about this Colonel Wade character. He's a little iffy. And he treats me like his personal tech sargeant."
"Dude, I don't think iffy is a strong enough word," Aidan Dalloway chimed in, wrapping his arm around his girlfriend's waist. He had been dating Lenora for almost ten months, since the night her mother died. It was sad that it had taken that cataclysmic event - along with five years of her life - for her to move past her old fiancé, Sven Holgersson, but he was grateful. He would have accepted anything if it meant that he had the girl of his dreams in his arms. "The guy is a one-man freak show. I'm sorry that Graham picked him of all people to oversee your transitional period."
"Glad to know you're on my side, Ace." Wade freaked her out, much more than she cared to admit. The way he looked at her with such disdain unnerved her. It was as though he despised her. He probably did. "I'd hate to have to go up against him alone."
"You're totally not alone." Morgan squeezed Lenora's free hand. "We've all got your back. The two of us, David, Kelly, and the five idiots on the Explorer. Oh, and Christiane."
Lenora nodded. "Speaking of Christiane, do you know if she's okay with this?"
Morgan shrugged. "Dunno. Honestly, I don't think Keith will want to see either of us." She bit her lower lip, looking pained at the thought of her ex-boyfriend arriving at the Garrison as the lead champion of Arus. "Though he should see Christiane, whether he likes it or not. She is his sister, after all."
Lenora agreed with her best friend's sentiment, but she didn't have the heart to tell her that Keith Kogane would probably do no such thing.
When Sven awoke in the morning, the first thing he noticed was the insistent throbbing in his head, followed by the soreness in his entire body. He felt like he'd been in a head-on collision. Well, in a way, he had. His fall from the top of Doom Tower into the moat below - that would have been tough enough for anyone to handle, let alone someone who had survived a savage robeast attack. But he'd made it. He'd hit the moat head-first, arms outstretched in front of him, fingers pointed to smoothly break through the dirty water.
He'd always felt a connection to the water. Blue Lion would know that.
Despite his free-fall into the moat, he knew that wasn't the real reason his body was hurting. It was the celebration from the night before. On Pollux, they were lauded as heroes. Prince Bandor had proclaimed Sven Holgersson and Princess Romelle as the champions of the people. The champions of Pollux. Libations were generously poured and refilled; Sven couldn't remember the last time they'd been so happy. Or so drunk. But he did remember that with every drink that found its way down his throat, he felt more and more entitled to place his arm around Romelle's shoulder, and then her waist, and then his lips were on hers, and then they were in an empty bedroom, and suddenly that little blue dress she was wearing was on the floor...
It had been too long since he'd had a woman. He couldn't stop himself.
He sat up in bed. Helvete, he thought to himself. I shouldn't have done that. I was drunk and I took advantage of the princess. Bandor's probably going to behead me when he finds out. So much for the champion of Pollux.
Sven felt guilty for a myriad of reasons, and he needed to get out of there. Fast. His clothes were on the floor, and he began to dress himself. He didn't realize he still had company.
"Where are you going, hmm?"
Helvete, he thought again. Romelle and I spent the night together. This can't lead to anything good.
"Out," he answered carefully.
She sat up in bed as well, the sheets wrapped around her torso. The sunlight glinted off her golden hair, and the smile on her face was radiant. "Sven Holgersson, you'd better not think you're running away from me," she teased, blowing him a kiss. "Not after everything we've been through. And certainly not after last night."
Blast it. I really did sleep with her.
"Of course not," he replied nervously, running his fingers through his dark hair. "I just need some time to myself to absorb everything." Then, before she could respond, he dashed out the door. Not the proudest moment in his twenty-seven years, but one of the most necessary. He really did need time to process everything. By himself.
Slipping out onto the balcony of Castle Pollux, Sven squinted in the sunlight. It was truly a perfect day, as though the gods above knew what had transpired on Doom only days before. They'd had their final victory as a team, and yet, in terms of a personal victory, he was as far away as he could get.
Stopping for a moment to lean against the railing, Sven reached underneath the collar of his shirt and pulled up a silver chain. A delicate platinum Tiffany wedding band hung from it. As he held the ring between his thumb and index finger, he felt an overwhelming sense of dread as he realized that he'd slept with Romelle the night before while wearing his elskede's ring around his neck.
It was time. It was time for him to go back to Earth to find his fiancée.
Throughout Sven's difficult time as a member of the Voltron Force - originally being captured by Doom, being horrifically maimed by Haggar's robeast, attempting to heal the damage on Ebb, being re-captured by Doom and made into a slave - the only thing that ever kept him going was his elskede. The thought that they would be reunited and married afterwards was almost too much to hope for, but it was the ideal that he worked towards. Now it was time for him to return to the Garrison and claim Lenora Stensson as his wife.
He just didn't think that Romelle would like it very much.
Sparks read and re-read the incoming transmission from Galaxy Garrison several times, but he still couldn't believe it. After rubbing his eyes, he finally called out, "Commander? I think you should see this."
"Oh?" Commander Jonathan James Hawkins rose from his seat on the bridge of the Stellar Ship Explorer and moved towards the tech sargeant's post. "Is it good news or bad news?"
"It's good. It seems that the Voltron Lion Force on Arus has defeated the forces of Doom. They're taking the lion ships to New York for a celebration." Then, shooting a sneaky smile towards the commander, he continued, "It will be the first Garrison celebration commandeered by the new Space Marshal. She has requested our presence for it. I suppose we should make an appearance."
"You're right. We shouldn't miss it." Hawkins nodded in agreement, lifting an eyebrow in interest as he did. "So then, our lieutenant has officially risen in the ranks to Space Marshal?" he inquired. "If so, I should send her a message." Noting the suspicious look on his tech sargeant's face, he added quickly, "On behalf of all of us, of course."
"Of course, Commander." Nice cover.
Sparks - along with the rest of the Explorer bridge crew and the Voltron Force - knew that the commander had never gotten over the new Space Marshal's visit two years ago. At the time, she was only a lieutenant, and the tech sargeant vividly remembered the shameless flirtation on the commander's behalf. Though Hawkins had not mentioned her in conversation in two years, Sparks knew that they still kept in contact with each other. He'd received plenty of letters from her since her visit, making him just as excited for mail call as any other member of the Explorer.
Gazing down at his tech sargeant, Hawkins looked distracted. "Thank you for the update, Sparks. We'll set course back to Earth for the celebration. Now, if you'll excuse me, I will be in my chambers."
Sparks tried not to smirk as the commander left the bridge.
Christiane felt anxious when she returned to her studio apartment in the Valley.
The "Valley" - the Garrison's nickname for the cheap just-off-campus housing for the Space Academy's graduated students - felt more like home than anywhere else Christiane Kogane had ever lived. At the age of twenty-three, she'd spent the past fifteen years of her life without a real family. Foster families didn't count; because of the incident she wouldn't speak of again, which resulted in her older foster brother being incarcerated, she'd legally emancipated herself at sixteen. The Space Academy became a stable place, a place she thought of as home, even when her biological brother rejected her.
Keith is gonna be here soon, though.
After graduation, with the brand-new title of Technical Sargeant, Christiane was hired by the Garrison as one of their many systems analysts. It was convenient, pleasant - she had regular opportunities to contact her brother's friend, Jeff Aki, and hang out with other tech sargeants - and it paid the rent as an added bonus. She couldn't ask for much more than that. Her life was good.
The only thing she possibly could ask for now would be a relationship with her brother. She had never really entertained the idea - after all, he'd turned his back on her when she was sixteen and he was twenty, and that had pretty much said it all. But now it looked like there might be an opportunity for that to happen. If it happened, she knew she would more than gladly reach out to him. He was the wild card. Would he rise to the occasion, or would he ignore her as he had before?
Moving towards her freezer, she pulled out her small bottle of Ciroc vodka and poured herself a shot. No sense in worrying about it now. She'd worry about it when she saw him in person.
When Colonel Wade paged Lenora to his office - really, it was her office, but the man had taken it over and seemed far too comfortable in it - Morgan and Aidan left the Alliance headquarters. Morgan returned to her house, the newly-renovated Victorian she and David owned, located right on the outskirts of the city. Aidan returned downtown to his one-bedroom apartment, leaving a message on his girlfriend's phone for her to come by when she was finished with Wade.
Once he was in his apartment, Aidan changed out of his uniform and into street clothes, a pair of broken-in jeans and a white T-shirt. He'd been trying to convince Lenora to move in with him, but she refused, at best staying overnight only on the weekends. That left five days during the week when she stayed at her studio apartment in the Valley. Five nights when she was probably still dreaming about Sven and wishing he'd come home. Aidan had no doubt that if Sven returned tomorrow, Lenora would leave him for the dark Norwegian without a second thought.
That was why he'd taken advantage of Morgan's and David's nuptials. With the Explorer docked - heck, nearly half of the Vehicle Team was in the bridal party, and Jeff had walked the bride down the aisle - Aidan had grabbed his best Mate, Cliff, the day after the wedding and dragged him through the city's Diamond District. Using the Australian as his bodyguard, he bit the bullet and purchased an engagement ring for Lenora. Yes, at the time it was too early to even think about marriage, but he wanted to have the ring on hand. He wanted to be able to lock his girlfriend down before Sven decided to come back. Or come back from the dead. The Garrison still didn't have confirmation on whether or not he was even alive.
Moving to the back of his closet, Aidan opened up the safe and pulled out the box with her ring in it. He'd picked out a classic round diamond, three-quarters of a carat, set in a white-gold band with diamond chips trailing down the sides. He had the ring, now all he had to do was wait for the perfect moment to propose.
In a few months, she would officially be Space Marshal, and Wade would officially be out of the picture. That would be the best time to propose. He felt he should probably do it sooner - tonight, even - but he didn't want to present her with some half-baked marriage proposal. He knew she was always going to be sad about Sven, so he needed to do something big and exciting when he asked her to be his wife. He wanted to do something so grand and romantic that she would forget about the Norwegian entirely.
Putting the ring away, he turned on the viewing screen and waited for his girlfriend to come home.
In the privacy of his chambers, Jon Hawkins poured himself a generous serving of Courvoisier, then moved to the bedroom to retrieve the stack of letters he kept by the bed. Her side of the bed. She had only spent the night once, and she'd spent it fully clothed, but he still considered it to be her side of the bed.
How sad that that was the only night he'd ever had a woman in his bed on the Explorer.
Sitting down at his desk, he took a sip of the cognac and began to sort through her letters. Jon had kept in touch with Lenora since her visit, mailing each other back and forth over the course of two years. They could have e-mailed each other, but there was something special about holding a hard copy of her letter, examining her writing and occasionally catching a whiff of her perfume on it. Yes, there was definitely something to be said about a real letter.
With a deep breath and another sip, he re-read the latest letter she'd written to him. He'd read it over and over, a thousand times it seemed, hoping for something different each time. He skimmed down to the part where she told him that she had a boyfriend. I've been seeing an old classmate of mine, Aidan Dalloway, she wrote, effectively crushing him in the process. I don't know how serious we are, but I'm enjoying myself. Of course, Sir, he doesn't know anything about fine wine the way you would.
There was that teasing again! Why did that woman torment him? Jon knew without a doubt that the new Space Marshal belonged by his side. He hadn't been in any semblance of a relationship since he graduated from the Space Academy sixteen years earlier, and he knew that his nights spent with a woman had been very few and even further between since then. Despite that, he knew in his being that he and Lenora were right for each other. If she wasn't sure how serious she was with this new boyfriend of hers, well, it really sounded like she'd be more than happy to leave him if something better came along. And Jon was sure that he was something better.
As he paused to take another sip of cognac, he realized his glass was empty. Blast it. He moved back to the liquor cabinet for a refill. As he did, his eyes scanned over the bottle of red wine he kept in there. Hess' Allomi Vineyard cabernet sauvignon. It was her favorite. Jon had stocked his liquor cabinet with a bottle of her favorite wine, just in case she ever came to visit again.
Cognac in hand, he moved back to his desk. All he could think about was going back to the Garrison for the celebration. Of course, he was pleased for Arus and for the Voltron Lion Force. He was pleased that the forces of Doom had been defeated. But mostly, he was pleased that he would get to see Lenora again, and perhaps convince her to leave this...boyfriend...of hers.
Landing the lions on Garrison Island was the easy part. Getting off the island was quite another matter. Once they met with the new Space Marshal, they would have to travel on foot to get pizza. That would prove to be interesting.
"I can't believe Graham finally retired," Lance commented smugly, rolling the name of his old nemesis over his tongue. "I never thought I'd live to see the day when the man hung his hat up."
"That's 'cuz you finally did him in, Lance," Hunk teased. "I mean, that poor guy did nothing but yell 'Cadet McClain! My office, now!' for five years. I think you finally wore him out."
Pidge laughed. "Yeah. But don't forget, he said that only slightly more often than 'Cadet Dalloway!' or 'Cadet Jack!' Let's not forget, Aidan and Cliff were in trouble almost as much as Lance was." Grinning over at the Red Lion pilot, he smirked, "Man, those two gave you a real run for your money."
"Eh." Lance shrugged modestly. "They were the best partners in crime a guy could ask for. But let's not forget, when it came to buzzing Senator Kalczek's eighteenth-floor penthouse, that was all me, kids."
"Yeah." Keith's voice broke into the conversation, almost reverently. "I wonder if Graham ever got that F-11 Jetstar back after the senator had it impounded. Then again, it was a small price to pay, seeing as how it was either the jet got impounded or Lance went to jail."
"I'm sure Graham would have rather seen Lance go to jail," Hunk quipped. "The Garrison sure spent a pretty penny on those F-11s back in the day."
"Yeah, and every one of those pretty pennies was well worth it," Lance remarked. "Those F-11s were frickin' spectacular."
"Lance! How much trouble did you actually get into during your five years at the Space Academy?" Allura asked, exasperated. "Are you telling me that Galaxy Garrison sent their biggest troublemaker to Arus in the hopes of getting rid of him?"
Everyone burst out laughing. "Maybe," Lance cracked. "What, did you expect anything less?"
The princess could only laugh and shake her head as they landed the lions on the island. Admittedly, she was excited about this visit, and not just because they had defeated Planet Doom. She knew how excited her teammates were to revisit their old home and see their old friends. Maybe, if she was lucky, she could learn even more about their pasts - especially Keith's - from it.
Lenora stared at Wade incredulously as he commanded her to leave the island for the rest of the day. He spelled it out, in no uncertain terms, that he was to be the one to greet the Voltron Force's lions as they came in from Arus.
"Pardon me, Colonel," she told him with an icy note in her voice, "but I do believe that, as Space Marshal of the Galaxy Garrison and the head of the Galaxy Alliance, I have the right to greet the Voltron Lion Force." Besides, you pompous jerk, they're my friends, not yours.
It was obvious that she would need to spell out everything to this bitter man.
Wade wanted her job, and he would do just about anything to get it. By now, she was used to him bullying her around and treating her like his personal systems analyst. She understood that it ticked him off that Graham had chosen her at such a young age to assume the mantle of Space Marshal, but he would have to accept that fact sooner rather than later. Graham had selected her for the job, not him. He was merely there to oversee her transitional period.
The colonel looked back at her, unmoved. His lips quivered with anger as he addressed her. "I understand that you are the Space Marshal, Lenora, but you are on probation right now. I am the interim marshal, and therefore I will handle all of the matters concerning the Voltron Force. You are dismissed."
She was enraged, but she refused to argue with him and lower herself down to his level. Inclining her head, she narrowed her eyes and spat out, "As soon as my transitional period is over, Colonel, you will be dismissed as well. Believe me when I say I will see to that personally." Then she left the office without so much as a glance backward.
Daniel was only twelve years old, but his entire life revolved around Voltron. He didn't care what part of Voltron was being discussed, even though he tended to favor Black Lion - he was willing to participate in any discussion that involved Voltron, even if only indirectly, like the Space Academy, the Galaxy Alliance, or the Garrison itself.
Which was why his father was so willing to take him to the parade and ceremony honoring the Voltron Lion Force.
"Can you believe it?" he'd asked his son, almost as excited as the boy was. "Can you believe that the Voltron Lion Force defeated both King Zarkon and Prince Lotor? What a mighty robot, indeed!"
Not that Daniel was surprised. He had more faith in Voltron than anything else, and he believed in the robot more than anyone he knew. Even though he was partial towards Lion Voltron, he liked Vehicle Voltron as well, and he devoured stories about Albegas, the supposed Voltron prototype. "Nope. I'm not surprised. I told you again and again, Voltron is the most powerful robot ever! The only thing that shocks me is that it took him this long to defeat Planet Doom!"
The boy's father ran his fingers through his coal-black hair, shot with threads of aubergine. "Yes, you always had faith," he replied pleasantly. "And look where your faith got you: we're going to the parade!"
"I can't wait! Do you think I'll get to meet them? I really want to meet Keith!" The boy's violet eyes widened with excitement. "He's my hero!"
His father chuckled. "Well, my boy, we'll do everything in our power to see that you meet the great Captain Kogane. How's that sound?"
"AWESOME!"
The boy's enthusiasm made his father laugh again. "Good. I'm glad you're so excited. But you know it's time for bed now. Come on, let's get you upstairs, washed up, and into your pajamas so you can go to sleep."
Daniel brushed his teeth, using floss and rinsing with mouthwash, before changing into his Voltron-themed pajamas. As he climbed into bed, he closed his eyes and pretended to sleep as his father planted a good-night kiss on his forehead. But the boy knew there was no way he could fall asleep now. He was too excited for the celebration.
He was going to meet his heroes.
