He hadn't known what else to do. He'd spoken to the others - discreetly, asking questions that could get a reaction if they were seeing the same things, but wouldn't send them spilling the beans if they weren't - but nothing had come from it. They all just put it down to stress or other such things. Hunk had even had the gall to say Lance was missing Keith.

He was, just as they all were, but that wasn't the point.

He's pretty sure they weren't even taking him seriously, but he couldn't express how serious he was without gathering too much attention.

The only one who had even spared it a thought was Matt, but then he'd set his hands on Lance's shoulders and told him that war could have that effect on a person in a soft voice.

Lance knew that. Matt and Shiro might have been out longer than the rest of them, but that didn't mean they hadn't been apart of the war too.

Lance had shot at people. Most were robots, but he wasn't naive enough to think that they all were.

That everyone had escaped from the ships Voltron destroyed.

That everyone they led out into battle returned.

That those they freed from imprisonment had been treated humanely.

He'd seen enough cases of PTSD while visiting his great-grandmother at her veterans home and war documentaries at school to know that war did things to people's heads.

He knew that, but it didn't stop Shiro's voice from echoing through his mind.

Lance. Lance, listen to me.

It's like… like I'm not myself.

With no one else to turn to, he made the call.

Even as it was connecting, his inner voice nagged at him.

If anyone would go running straight to the source, it'd be him.

He was the least likely to notice anything wrong, especially considering he was never around now.

He's got other things on his mind than Voltron. He made that clear.

"Lance?"

Kolivan might have looked shocked when he answered, maybe. It was hard to tell. At least he didn't feel the need to walk around with his mask up all the time like every other Marmorite.

Speaking of faces, he might have been wrong, but it kind of looked like Kolivan's eye was swollen, like he'd gotten a black eye.

The leader of the Blade of Marmora cleared his throat and Lance snapped to attention.

"Right, uh, sorry."

"Is there a reason you called? I talked to Shiro not long ago. Has something changed?"

"Oh, no. This isn't a business call. I need to talk to Keith. It's important, I swear, just personal. I would have called him directly but I don't have his… number? Contact details? That stuff. Actually, does he even have a way for us to call him?"

"Blade communicators are on an encrypted, monitored frequency, but the personals are equipped with private lines that only log who's being called, not what's said. He'll only be able to answer if he's inside his personal, but you'll be able to leave him a message if he doesn't answer. He is usually there if he's on base and not training so it should work for any non-emergencies." Kolivan clicked at some unseen screen. "I'll send the contact codes for his personal to the castle. I would have sooner, but I assumed he would have done so himself."

Lance frowned. Had Keith not wanted to talk to them? "Right, uh, thanks."

Kolivan nodded. "For now, I can transfer you to his personal. It will take a moment."

"Double thanks."

"It's not a problem."

"Cool. It'll be nice to be able to bug Keith every so often again."

Kolivan gave a face that was half smirk, half fond smile. "Quite. Be warned though, he's sharing his personal for the time being, and I don't think she'll be as forgiving of your pestering."

"Keith's got a roommate?" Lance snickered, imagining the closed off former paladin having to share his private bubble with someone else. "For how long?"

The leaders face quickly fell blank. "Undetermined," he said before looking down to type something. He muttered something under his breath that vaguely sounded like, "Not long, hopefully. I won't survive otherwise. Just need to find something that could drag her away from him."

Curiosity burned inside the paladin, but then the light caught Kolivan's swollen eye.

"I'm transferring you."

"Thanks. Um, is your eye okay?"

"Yes," Kolivan said, his voice sharp and cold.

"Cool. Did you get hurt on a mission or som-"

"No."

The screen went blank.

For a moment Lance thought Kolivan had hung up on him, then a figure appeared on screen.

It was a woman - probably, alien genders could be hard sometimes - with bicolored hair that was pulled back into a messy ponytail and vibrant purple irises on top of the usual Galra yellow. Lance was sure they'd never met, but he thought there was something familiar about her. Especially the glare she was sending him.

"Who is this, and why are you calling?"

"You must be the roommate Kolivan mentioned." If anything, she seemed more annoyed hearing the leader's name. "I'm Lance. Is the grumpy cat there?"

"Excuse me? Who are you?"

"What's wrong?"

The woman turned, revealing more of the personal. It looked kind of like an office, with a pair of desks on either side; one clear except for Keith's dagger and the other covered in what appeared to be a disassembled blaster or two, but both with simple hover chairs. There was a couch directly across from the screen that took up most of the wall alongside the door next to it and had Keith's red jacket hanging over the arm. There was also something that vaguely resembled a beanbag chair next to what Lance assumed was Keith's desk.

Keith came into view wearing his casual clothes and toweling off his hair. "Lance?"

"Hey, Mullet!"

"You know him?"

"He's the Paladin of the Red Lion. I told you about him."

"Oh yes, the one who is always trying to pick fights with you."

"That's me."

"He's harmless."

"Alright. Well I need to grab a replacement piece for my blaster. Do you need anything from the armory?"

"No, I'm good."

She nodded, stepping away from the screen. She set her hand on Keith's shoulder and pressed her nose and cheek against his forehead before leaving. The action looked awkward, on both their parts, but it was hard to miss the obvious affection on her face.

Lance gaped. "Never would have thought you'd be the type to go for cougars," he said once she was gone.

Keith looked confused for a second before his face twisted up in disgust. "Shut up."

"It's cool, dude. If she was our age, I'd probably hit on her too."

The former paladin looked nauseous as he reached for the screen. "I'm hanging up."

"Wait, I need to talk to you! It's important."

He paused. "Are you going to shut up about Krolia?"

"Won't say a word!"

Keith sighed and crossed his arms. "Alright, what did you want?"

"It's Shiro."

That got Keith's attention. The boy grew serious, giving Lance his full attention and pulling the towel off his head.

As he tossed the towel onto his desk, Lance's attention caught on a mark on Keith's cheek. It kind of looked like a bruise, except it was the wrong color and was too well defined. It kind of looked like the ones on…

Oh, well that explained the familiarity and Keith's disgust. It'd have to wait though.

"What's wrong? Is he okay?"

Lance opened his mouth to say the same subtle hints he'd given the others, but instead Lance ended up telling Keith everything.

About Shiro ordering them all around and going behind their backs. About the yelling. About talking in the void. About Shiro admitting something felt wrong.

About Shiro always taking Lotor's side ever since he'd handed over the black bayard.

He expected Keith to roll his eyes and tell him he's being paranoid or something.

Instead Keith frowned.

"Are you sure about this?"

"I… Something's going on. I just don't…"

Keith nodded and moved over to the wall, opening a built in cupboard Lance hadn't noticed. He pulled out his Blade uniform and said, "I'll talk to Kolivan. I won't tell him everything, just that you need me at the castle for a short time. Or should I tell Kolivan?"

Lance blinked. "You're coming back?"

Keith froze. "I - Unless you don't want me to."

"No! I mean, yes, of course, dude. I just… didn't expect you to come running back."

"What did you expect me to do then?"

"I don't know. Tell me I'm crazy."

Keith frowned and came back to the screen. "Lance, you understand people better than anyone on the team. When it comes to stuff like this, you're the expert. So if you think something's wrong with Shiro, then I believe you."

Lance can only stare.

They don't tell Kolivan what's going on. Keith arrives a quintant later with Krolia in tow.

And that's what he introduces her as.

Lance can tell the others make the connection as fast as he did, but none of them bring it up.

Nor do they bring up the stripe on Keith's cheek.

Keith gives her a basic tour of the castle and the others come along for the ride. Lance notices him sending Shiro glances, but he also catches the same from Krolia. He wonders if maybe Keith told her, but the glances aren't suspicious. It's more like she's seen a ghost.

Her, Shiro, and Allura end up sparing so Lance and Keith take the time to talk.

"Something feels weird," Keith mutters, watching Krolia dodge Allura's urumi through the windows of the observation deck.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. There's… It's like there's a buzz around him."

"And what does that mean?"

Keith threw his hands in the air, turning to him. "I don't know. It's like when I found Blue and Red, I guess. I can just… feel some energy or something. It's fainter than them though. I probably wouldn't have even noticed if I wasn't focusing on him."

"Well, that's something at least."

"Maybe, or maybe I'm just imagining it. It's not proof."

Lance flinched. "So you don't believe me."

"Lance, I wouldn't be here if I didn't believe you," Keith huffed. "I'm just saying I have no idea what any of this even means!"

Lance set his hand on Keith's shoulder. "Yeah, okay, I get it. But our priority right now is figuring out exactly what's going on, and if you think you're feeling something, then we should at least keep that in mind."

"You're right, sorry. I'm just…"

"Yeah, me too."

Keith and Lance took a turn in the training room next under the premise of Keith giving Lance some sword fighting tips. Krolia starts to offer to help, but gets distracted when she hears Allura mention Hunk making cookies and becomes curious about how he'd replicated the Earth food using alien ingredients.

They did spar a little, but most of their focus was on coming up with a list of reasonable explanations.

And debating exactly what reasonable is.

"You didn't see Coran with his brain bug! It's totally likely!"

"Doppelgängers are real! You're the one that thought the castle was haunted, how can you not believe in doppelgängers?"

As it is, they didn't get much of anywhere during the half hour they have before everyone's called up to the bridge.

Lotor had sent them information that one of the generals working against him had stolen a device from the druids and had requested that Voltron move in before she could go through with her plans to weaponize it.

"When did we turn into Lotor's attack dogs?" Pidge asked blankly.

"When you allowed yourselves to be one of his supporting claims to the throne," Krolia said over Hunk's muttered, "Attack lions."

Shiro, Allura, Pidge, and Hunk glared at her, but Lance couldn't help but think she was right and he could see the same on Keith's face. It made him wonder if all the Marmorites were upset they'd helped Lotor at the Kral Zera. Keith's team had been there to stop anyone from taking the crown.

"We're not his attack dogs," Shiro said. "We're his allies. And he was just providing us with information on a danger that needs to be taken care of."

"What information. That a general stole a thing? He didn't tell us anything about what had been stolen or how it could be weaponized or -"

"Lance," Shiro said.

"The Blue Paladin has a point." Lance opened his mouth to correct her, but Krolia continued before he could. "The information Lotor gave was limited. We should launch a surveillance mission. We'll need to find out what kind of security there is and where exactly the device is being kept. Keith and I -"

"We don't have time. We don't how long we have until the device is weaponized so we need to move now."

"Shiro, we can't just go in blindly. You're the one who taught -"

"Keith. This is a Voltron mission, and you made it clear you weren't apart of the team, so stay out of it."

If Lance had been paying attention, he might have noticed Keith's flinch and ducked head or Krolia's hand twitching towards her blaster. He wasn't though.

They were trying to get Keith back, not push him away!

"No!" Lance growled, surging to his feet. "The last time we acted blindly we nearly got blown up, with several solar systems right alongside us."

Shiro turned a scowl on Lance, and he met it with his own.

"Shiro," Allura started.

"This isn't a debate -"

"It is now," Lance cut in.

"Perhaps we should send Pidge, Krolia, and Keith in using the Green Lion's cloaking. As a stealth mission to retrieve the device instead of a surveillance one." Allura glanced between the two as she offered up the compromise.

"It could be too dangerous for only three," Shiro pointed out.

"Which is why we should gather information first."

"Which is why," Allura said, sending a frown towards the Galra woman, "We'll be ready and waiting to move in with the other lions if something happens."

"Alright -"

"No," Lance said over Shiro. He turned to Allura. "Come one, you know we can't just send them in there."

Allura bit her lip, but then Shiro's hand was on Lance's shoulder. "Knock it off. We've got a plan. Everyone, get to your lions. Krolia, Keith, grab what you need and meet Pidge at the Green Lion."

Krolia looked annoyed at the Black Paladin, but left the bridge.

Keith met Shiro's eyes. "Lance is right." He turned and followed.

Looking annoyed, Shiro waved his hand and turned to the Black Lion's lift.

Lance glanced to the others then turned to the exit of the bridge. "I'm going to take the long way."

"Lance…" Whatever Shiro was going to say was left behind as the door shut.

He quickly caught up to Keith and Krolia. She sent him a look, but continued on as the boys slowed down.

"You okay?"

"Fine."

"It's not him."

Keith shrugged. "What are we going to do?"

"For now, just go with the plan. There's nothing else we can do. Just… be careful."

"Now you sound like Kolivan," Keith huffed, slipping into the elevator and slouching against the wall.

Lance chuckled. "Hey man, thanks for coming. For trusting me about this."

"Anytime."

"Numbers Three and Four! We've got a problem."

"Coran? What's up?"

"The Black Lion has locked Shiro out."

The two shared a look.

"You don't think?" Lance whispered

Keith shook his head, but Lance redirected the elevator down to the lions' hangers.

When the door to the Black Lion's hanger opened, Shiro was standing next to the black lion speeder and staring up at the lion's particle barrier. When they came closer, he turned to them with a lost look.

"What's going on?" Lance looked back to see Allura, Hunk, and Pidge running in. "Coran said you couldn't get in."

Shiro shook his head and turned back to the lion, placing his hand on the barrier.

Lance nudged Keith. "You should try."

Keith twitched away from him.

"Wait, you think?" Hunk asked.

Pidge frowned and adjusted her glasses. "Maybe, since he's back?"

"I'm not, I mean…" Keith glanced towards the lion with a frown.

Lance gave him another nudge and he finally approached the lion. Keith gave a shaky breath before reaching out. He placed his hand on the barrier.

Nothing happened.

Keith sighed and turned back to the others.

"I don't understand," Allura said. She walked up the barrier and looked at the Black Lion.

A roar echoed through the castle.

Lance glanced over his shoulder, feeling that it was Red, before turning back to the others.

Keith's eyes were wide, before he put on a determined expression. He stepped to the side and said, "Lance should try."

Lance sucked in a breath. "What?"

Keith tilted his head towards the door. "Red's calling me."

It felt like something had hit Lance in the stomach. It was Blue all over again. Red didn't want him either.

And Black?

Lance's thought drifted to the half hour he'd spent sitting at Black's darkened controls.

"Lance."

There was a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to meet Keith's eyes.

"I didn't come back because of the team," he said quietly, so only Lance could hear.

He came back for me.

He became Voltron's right hand, Allura's voice whispered in the back of his mind.

Lance nodded and gave him a grateful smile.

He stepped towards the lion. Like Keith, he gave a shaky breath before reaching out.

The barrier was gone before he could even touch it.