Edit: Shiro's an officer at this point, not lieutenant. I already made the correction in the first chapter. Whoops. XD
SH
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"Those three are Alteans?" Kinkade murmured lowly.
Leifsdottir slowly blinked as the newcomers walked ahead of them with Iverson and Sam Holt. Only Rizavi and Griffin had gone on the mission to get the paladins. Their squadron leaders just brought the rest of the MFEs up to speed as they escorted the paladins to their temporary living quarters.
"Our new tech is primarily Altean," Leifsdottir recited. "With Olkarian integration influences, supplemented by -"
"Yeah, we know Leifs," Rizavi sighed. "You don't have to recap everything you know."
Kinkade grunted as he eyed the paladins. Their suits had seen better days. There were clearly bags under all their eyes and well as signs of dehydration. Officer Shirogane's famed focused gaze was a little dazed, as if he wasn't all there. The pink pilot - Lura? - and Keith stayed near him almost every step of the way whether for security or some concern for him they were unaware of. But Kinkade couldn't see any wounds on Shiro other than the lack of a right arm. Even then there was no blood or other signs of injury to indicate anything wrong.
All in all -
"I'm not impressed," James grumbled.
"Well, they did just crash onto Earth like an hour ago," Rizavi defended casually.
"If all those stories are true, they should still be better than how they are now."
Kinkade made a sound of agreement.
Allura didn't hide the fact that she was checking out every person's face.
Shiro was partly amused and partly anxious. When she pulled his essence from Black into herself, their souls mixed. He felt the power of her energy, had felt her lungs expand with fresh air as she walked over to the clone's body. He had seen the transfer through her eyes. But before he left completely he received quick flashes of her memories, had felt the ache of her soul that had been caused by Lotor's betrayal and her own failings as the Princess of Altea.
He knew what a juniberry flower smelled like.
He had seen all of this so he knew...it went both ways. Her hand gripped his forearm. He looked over to what had her attention, his heart beating faster when he spotted dark caramel hair. The man turned around. The face was wrong and devoid of glasses.
"Oh," came her quiet sound of disappointment.
"It's ok," Shiro murmured.
She gave him a flat look. 'No it's not,' he could practically hear her say. He softly sighed. It really wasn't. She knew it. He knew it. It was something that had circled his thoughts constantly with the idea of actually coming back to Earth. Something he didn't think he'd ever be able to do, quite honestly. But the inevitable meet up was something he partly feared...and almost desperately wanted.
"Here's where your family's staying Lance," Sam smiled widely, "Pidge, we're in the same area too."
Those three broke off. Iverson continued to lead the way. Behind them, the four Earth pilots soon broke off into another hallway. Keith looked at them before turning forward again.
"We're low on space right now so we only have one multi-bunk dormitory room left."
Iverson slid a keycard and then stepped aside. Kosmo ran in first, making himself comfortable on the small couch. It was rather ridiculous how much space the wolf took on it but this wasn't an average earth dog. Romelle, Hunk, and Coran went first, then Keith and Allura. Shiro brought up the rear and stood by the doorway.
"We've shared tighter spaces," Shiro half smiled. "Thanks Iverson."
"Just make sure the wolf doesn't tear everything up."
Keith rubbed the back of his neck. "I'll try."
"There should be spare clothes in the closets. We'll reconvene in an hour."
"Wait," Allura stepped up to catch Iverson before he went through the door. "There's someone Shiro is looking for."
Shiro quickly looked at Allura to silently chide for being sneaky...but couldn't be angry at her for asking. She knew what was in his heart. He was grateful she had the nerve to ask for him. Iverson slowly nodded then looked at Shiro directly.
"Change first. Then I'll take you to him."
The conference room was dark, but it didn't hide the carefully blank mask on Shiro's face.
The paladins shared looks. They knew Iverson took him somewhere but only Allura somewhat knew the situation. She frowned at Shiro's expression. It wasn't the look she'd thought he'd have. She was going to have to ask him about it later. Pidge looked to her dad at the front for answers but he wasn't able to meet her gaze. Instead, Sam Holt pulled up an area map on the screen with several markers.
"Here are the locations of Sendak's army."
The big wigs and the paladins sat at the conference table.
The MFEs stood to the side as the meeting detailing how grave the situation was with the Galra.
"No one else is putting up a fight against Sendak?"
All eyes were on Shiro. The blank mask allowed for a frown on his face. Shiro had been James' hero back in the day - still was, truthfully. But even so, he couldn't stop the bristling that occurred from hearing those words. What do you think we're doing?
Veronica was quick to step in.
"There were pockets of rebels underground but with varying degrees of success." Pause. "Most of Earth does not have the weapons to match the Galras." Her glasses reflected the projection's light, obstructing her eyes. "You are aware how systematic the Galra are. Most factions of rebels have been eliminated."
Yes. James knew Veronica would defend them. It's easier to say plans than to carry them out. His eyes dragged over to the heads sitting at the table. Not that our own admiral understands this either.
"Why not bring more people into the Garrison's grounds?" Hunk leaned forward with a frown. "With the particle barrier, this is the safest place for them to be."
We'd still be doing that if we could, James testily thought.
"It's not safe to do that anymore." Sam took the front again. "The patrols are more sporatic, making it harder to plan out routes."
"There are good people still out there," Hunk insisted, "My family -"
James felt his eyes narrow. This was Voltron? They only care about their own interests. They didn't come here to save Earth. They just came to get their families safe and then probably just leave once they had them.
"I'm so sorry Hunk. But the risks -"
"We should take the opportunity to do it now before it gets even worse -"
"Hey," James stepped out, well aware that he was raising his voice. But he had enough of this. "Do you paladins not understand the chain of command? Your CO just said it's not worth the risk."
"Officer Griffin that's enough," Sam sharply cut in.
He hadn't heard Commander Holt use that tone on him before. He felt his hands clench. Was Sam Holt on their side now because of their shared experiences? He closed his eyes briefly. That's ridiculous. The man spent four years working - risking everything - to bolster Earth's defenses. How could he question him now after all of that?
James stepped back in line as Sam tried mollifying the room.
The Altean Princess stood up to assist. "You mentioned having mixed Altean tech with Earth's."
Sam took the change in topic with ease. "Yes. We could go look at that now."
The MFE's waited for the rest of the room to clear. Veronica stood in front of them to dismiss them.
"Griffin, hang back."
Leifs and Rizavi shared a glance then followed Kinkade out. James stayed in standing formation, hands behind his back and shoulders squared. Veronica waited for the door to close before sighing.
"You need to calm down."
"They started it."
"Started what?" Veronica dryly asked. "The Galra are the enemy, not Voltron."
"I know that."
"Do you? Because from what I can tell you want to fight them."
He allowed his fists to clench behind his back and well out of her sight.
"We need Voltron to win this war," James intoned with no inflection.
Veronica was quiet for a moment. "Do you believe that?"
"It's what Commander Holt says."
"Forget about what you're told to believe." She fixed him with a probing gaze. "Grif, do you think that's true?"
"...It doesn't matter what I think." He tilted his head up. "I follow my orders."
Her eyes narrowed. "I'm sure that's what the Galra do."
He felt his jaw unhinge slightly. "I'm not them."
"No. You're an MFE fighter pilot for Earth." She put a hand on his shoulder. "So you should act like one."
She stepped out of the room without another word.
"That could have gone better," Keith sighed as he sat on the couch.
The admiral wanted them to give up the lions. They sure as quiznak weren't going to do that. His eyes narrowed at the ceiling. They've been fighting the Galra for months. Can't these Garrison idiots see that there was no negotiating with someone like Sendak?
He was suddenly reminded why he didn't miss this place.
Kosmo teleported himself onto the couch, eliciting a grunt from Keith. He shifted the wolf's front legs to not be right in his crotch and then sighed again. The wolf bit his hand gently. He lifted his hand to scratch Kosmo's head. Coran was still with Sam and Romelle had followed Hunk to the cafeteria. He looked around, not seeing anyone else.
"You seen Shiro or Allura?"
The wolf stared at him with his bright amber eyes. Keith knew what was coming.
"Don't -"
They disappeared.
Allura silently followed Shiro down the Garrison hallways.
There weren't many people around at this time of night, allowing them a reprieve from all the staring. As royalty and a paladin of Voltron she was used to being looked at. But around here the looks felt different. People tracked her movements with their eyes, only turning their heads and nothing else. It was almost like they didn't want to move too much and draw her attention. She supposed being exposed to another "alien" race made them nervous. Their first experience hadn't been the best.
"Earthlings are rather squeamish," she murmured in Altean.
An upside to the soul mixing was some language knowledge being shared.
"At times," he responded back with a long sigh. "I'm honestly ashamed to be part of the human race today."
"The staring's not so bad."
He looked back at her. "I meant what happened in the hangar."
"Which part exactly?" she amusedly murmured. "The 'suggestion' to hand over the Lions or for me to stay out of human affairs?"
"All of it," he dryly intoned.
He slowed his steps and then stopped by a curving wall not connected to any beams or being used as structural support. She frowned as she looked about, seeing no one.
"Are we meeting Adam here?"
He gave her a sad, fond look. "He's here already."
Her brows furrowed as Shiro merely stood by the curved wall. She noticed color down below, seeing various flowers and cards - She felt her heart stop for a tick. She focused her eyes on the wall, finally noticing that there were faces and names. Her legs shook a little as she got closer. Her vision started blurring as she looked for the face from Shiro's memories, hoping - praying - that she'd fail to find -
"No," she softly moaned.
Her trembling fingers grazed Adam's plaque as water leaked from her eyes. For months she saw this face in her dreams, had seen Shiro's memories of the two them in the Garrison running drills, doing space missions together, slowly, surely, falling in love...Her heart was being squeezed by an invisible hand.
"Oh gods," she cried out.
"Why are you crying?" came his soft voice.
She lifted her head up from the wall. Gods, the quiet pain in his eyes only made her insides ache even more.
"Because you deserved more than this," she hoarsely voiced out.
The thin, fragile mask cracked. He'd been severely testing its limits throughout the meeting and then down in the hangar. But with all they've gone through already...Even he had his limits. He put his face in the crook of her neck, letting her arms come around him. His eyes closed and finally the heartache leaked from beneath his eyelids.
"He died protecting Earth," he quietly choked out.
"We should have been here," she whispered brokenly.
He gripped her tightly, knowing she could take it.
They didn't hear the telltale 'poof' of the wolf's teleportation ability. Keith only had to look at the wall to understand why they were kneeling together, crying into the other's shoulder. He wasn't one to cry but he could feel his eyes stinging as he saw Adam's face on the wall.
"Damn it all," he whispered.
He dropped to his knees, putting his head against Shiro's back.
James didn't mean to spy.
It was part of his routine to visit the wall as a reminder of what the stakes were. But then he saw those three lying in front of the wall, Shiro in the middle, Keith and the Space Princess on either side of him with the strange wolf cushioning their heads as they slept. It was a very odd place to rest, to say the least.
He stepped closer to wake them.
The wolf lifted his head. James halted. He wasn't sure how tame it was. He furrowed his brows as he caught their expressions. Even in sleep he could see the shadows of grief etched on their faces and the bit of crustiness in the corners of the princess' eyes. He looked up at the wall and remembered.
That first wave of fighter pilots. Sometimes he woke up with their panicked screams in his head.
'The Galra are the enemy, not Voltron.'
He closed his eyes. These paladins were still so different than he thought they would be. He was so disappointed. But we're stronger together. Wasn't that what Commander Holt kept saying? He trailed his eyes back to them. There was still resentment. He didn't expect that to go away magically. But it's something that can be ignored. With enough willpower, that is.
He backed away, leaving them where they were.
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AN: Oh gosh, that scene with the wall... ; _ ;
So I obviously played around with the aftereffects of Allura downloading Shiro from the lion to the clone. It's been on my mind for a while so I thought I'd just go with it. XD And I really like the idea of Keith and Allura being there for Shiro as support. All of the paladins, really. But this is supposed to be one of my shorter stories so...XD