Keith was clearly up to something. In the week since Gorma had diagnosed him with AIDS, Lance had caught him hurriedly putting away papers and switching computer screens whenever Lance came in. This evening, Lance had interrupted a COM conversation with Sven, and suddenly realized just what his partner was planning.

"Are you out of your mind?" he exploded. "You're planning to go to Doom, by yourself, and assassinate Lotor and Zarkon? What, are you determined to be killed instead of dying? I thought I was the reckless one in this relationship!"

Keith was pale, but determined in the face of Lance's anger. "I have to do this. I know how to get in and out without being detected, and Sven's intelligence says that Haggar will be away for the next few weeks for some sort of ritual recharging. Don't you see? I'm dying anyway, and if I can take those bastards with me, so much the better."

Lance turned away from him. "This isn't like you, Kogane. Going to Doom alone, undetected or not, is suicide! You know that! I'm going with you, to watch your back."

"No." Keith grabbed Lance's shoulder and spun him around. "I can't risk losing you! If I fail, the team will need you to fight!"

"If you fail," Lance repeated quietly, "I won't be here anyway. Do you honestly think I can live without you?"

Keith looked at him, noticing the tears in the green eyes. "Lance," he said softly. "I didn't mean to hurt you. But I can do this alone." Secretly, though, he had to admit that he needed Lance's help, badly, and hadn't wanted to ask for it. Letting Lance catch him talking to Sven had been the closest he could come to asking.

Lance glared at him. "That's not how the Stalkers trained us, and you know it."

Keith froze at the reminder of their Special Ops days. He, Lance, and Sven had been the deadliest members of the Garrison's elite special forces unit prior to being recruited for the Voltron Force. He knew very well that what he was planning went against everything they had ever been taught. But to risk Lance's life, as well as his own. . . "You're right, Wildcat," he finally said, using Lance's Stalker codename. "I don't like it, but I need you with me. Let me show you the plans. . ."

Three days later, the two of them, dressed head to toe in black, were sliding across Doom, being the Shadow Stalkers they once were. Sven's intelligence was dead on, and they gained access to the Castle through an unguarded ventilation shaft. Quietly they made their way through the darkened Castle, taking out the few guards they encountered with little resistance. At a junction, Keith paused and consulted the map he had downloaded to his COM. "Zarkon's quarters are that way. . ." he pointed, "and Lotor's are that way. Lotor is mine," he added grimly.

Lance nodded. "Meet back here when we're done." He hesitated, then leaned over and kissed Keith's cheek before vanishing into the darkness. Keith watched after him for a minute, then turned and headed for his own target.

He slid into Lotor's chambers, silent as the shadows. Two quick slashes of his knife, and Lotor's bodyguards sagged into whatever afterlife awaited Drules. In the inner chamber, the Crown Prince of Doom lay on his back, mouth open, snoring in a drunken stupor. Keith, despite the risk, hesitated for a few minutes. After all their fights, all the confrontations, he hated for things to end so dishonorably. It went against everything he believed in, everything he had been taught as a Japanese child. "No choice, Kogane," he told himself. "You're out of time, and there's no one on the team can take him on like you can. There are times when honor must yield to expediency." He stepped behind the head of the bed, leaning over Lotor with his knife at the ready. A minute later, the evil prince was struggling to breathe his last through a throat that wasn't there anymore. Keith watched him from the shadows at the door, then tossed a small explosive onto the bed, ensuring there would be nothing for Haggar to resurrect.

Lance hadn't had any hesitations. His knife had cut so deeply into Zarkon's throat that he felt the blade scrape the king's vertebrae, and he had been all but gleeful in tossing his own explosives and running from the room. Halfway to his rendezvous with Keith, he ran into a troop of guards running to investigate the explosions. The guards gaped at him for a minute, then opened fire. He ducked behind a column, returning fire with one hand and grabbing his COM with the other. "Keith! Get your ass down here! I've got lots of bald, ugly company!" He screamed when one of the guards took out his right shoulder with a lucky shot.

Keith was running at Lance's call; the scream drove him into a sprint. He found Lance propped against a column, firing at guards with his left hand, right hanging uselessly at his side. A cold fury came over him at the sight, and the remaining guards quickly fell victim to his blaster, having never seen him behind them. "LANCE!" He dropped to his knees at his lover's side, fingers going to investigate the wound in his shoulder.

Lance stopped him. "Check it on the ship," he said through gritted teeth, forcing himself to his feet. "We gotta get the fuck out of here before we have more company."

Keith nodded. "Can you walk?"

Lance managed a grin. "To get off Doom? Try and keep up with me!" Brave words, and he meant them, but he only took a few steps before he stumbled. Keith draped his uninjured arm over a shoulder, and all but carried him back to their ship. Lance was nearly unconscious from the pain and blood loss by the time they got there. Keith hastily got the ship airborne, set the autopilot, and turned to see about Lance.

He cut Lance's shirt away to find a gaping wound in his shoulder, pouring blood down his chest. Swearing softly, he reached overhead for the medical kit, working frantically to stop the bleeding. "Gorma's. . . .gonna be pissed," Lance said groggily. "Hates the HIV protocols."

"He'll get over it." Keith finished packing the wound with gauze and took Lance's hand. "How'd this happen? Not like you to stick something out to get shot."

Lance glowered at him, fighting pain and the dizziness of blood loss. "So I'm. . . rusty. Bite me, Kogane." He squeezed Keith's hand as the pain spiked, then fell into the darkness that opened beneath him. Keith didn't move from his side until he had to land the ship and call for MedTech to meet them.

Allura, Pidge, Hunk, and Sven were waiting when Keith wandered into the MedTech waiting room, oblivious to the blood on his hands and clothes. Before anyone could say anything, Sven took charge of him, forcing his commander to his room for a shower and change of clothes. When they got back, Allura quickly got in Keith's face.

"Would you like to tell us exactly HOW this happened?" her voice was coldly furious, and lightning flashed from the blue eyes.

Keith sighed miserably. "I decided when I was diagnosed that I would go to Doom and take out Zarkon and Lotor. Lance found out what I was planning, made me take him with me for backup. Everything went according to plan; Zarkon and Lotor are dead. But the guards responded quicker than we anticipated, and Lance told me one of them got in a lucky shot because he was rusty. It's been a long time since we were Shadow Stalkers."

"Shadow Stalkers?" Pidge repeated. "I've heard of those guys; they're major bad news. When were you and Lance trained by them?"

"More den trained, and not just Keit and Lance," Sven said quietly. "De tree of us vere de deadliest team in de unit before ve vere recruited for de Voltron Force."

A light seemed to come on over Hunk's head. "Who were you three?"

"Ninja, Wildcat, and Viking," Keith answered. "I can't speak for Lance and Sven, but I was happy to leave that part of my life behind until now."

Any further discussion was interrupted by Dr. Gorma clearing his throat at the waiting room door. "Commander McClain is resting comfortably," he began. "He lost a great deal of blood, but should make a full recovery. Our main concern now will be watching for infection and pneumonia. I know I don't have to tell you how serious a threat that is, Captain."

Keith shook his head numbly. "When can I see him?"

"I will have a nurse come for you once he is settled in ICU." The doctor turned and left, leaving Keith to face his teammates.

Allura had forgotten her anger at Keith. "What's so bad about pneumonia? It's not winter yet."

"Doesn't have to be." Keith paced the room. "Pneumonia is always around, and because Lance and I don't have normal immune systems anymore, it can easily kill us. Especially now, when Lance is hurt and weaker than normal." A nurse appeared at the door then, and led Keith back to Lance's ICU bed, pausing on the way for both of them to scrub up and don masks and gloves.

Lance lay still, face white and eyes closed. His right shoulder was heavily bandaged, and an IV fed what Keith assumed were pain medications and antibiotics into his left arm. Keith sat at the left side of the bed and took Lance's hand into his own. "I'm here, Lance," he said softly. "You've got to fight and get better."

Lance stirred; his eyes flickered once, then opened. "Hey there," he whispered groggily, squeezing Keith's hand.

"Hey yourself." Keith leaned over and kissed him through the surgical mask. "How you feeling?"

"Not bad." Lance gave him a loopy grin, then twitched his IV line. "Dunno what Gorma's got in there, but it's some damn good stuff."

Keith grinned back. "You'll be good as new in no time flat. Then we get to plan what to do with ourselves now that Doom isn't a threat anymore."

"Like that idea. . . ." Lance's eyes drifted shut as he faded back to sleep; Keith sat and watched over him, alert for any changes.

Back in the waiting room, Sven was being confronted by his teammates. "Why didn't you ever say anything about being Shadow Stalkers?" Hunk demanded.

"To begin vith, ve couldn't," Sven answered calmly. "You know de Shadow Stalkers are classified; if Lance hadn't gotten hurt doing dis, you still vouldn't know anyting."

Allura was talking to Pidge in the corner, trying to sort things out. "What are these 'Shadow Stalkers'?" she asked.

Pidge shrugged. "Nobody knows much about them, Princess. They're the Garrison's elite special forces. People DO know that they're deadly, and that three of them were deadlier than most." He swallowed. "And, now, it seems, those three are our teammates."

"And ve REALLY don't vant you to change how you look at us," Sven said patiently. "Ve are still de same people ve haf alvays been."

Allura nodded absently. "Sven? What Keith said about Zarkon and Lotor being dead; do you think they really-"

"If Keit said dey are dead, den dey are dead, Princess. But let me check wit my contact on Doom." Sven pulled his COM from his pocket and sent a quick coded message. Five minutes later, the unit beeped with a reply. "Ja, it's confirmed. Zarkon and Lotor are dead, Castle Doom is in ruins. Dey did it; de var is over." He smiled at the other three.

Allura looked out the window. "I just hope Keith and Lance have time to enjoy the peace they've bought."

Keith spent the night at Lance's bedside as his partner drifted between sleeping and waking. Shortly after midnight, he began to hear a rattle in Lance's breathing, and summoned Gorma. The doctor confirmed his fears: despite all the precautions, all the antibiotics, Lance had developed pneumonia.