After her light snack with Hunk, Pidge decided to wander around the castle to see what the other Paladins were up too.

Hunk was obviously still in the kitchen trying to conjure up some goo that tasted remotely like peanut butter. He had failed in the task earlier so they had to settle for regular goo for their snack.

Lance was probably in his room taking his mid-day nap with some light music and a facial mask. Pidge had walked in on him once and swore she had seen an alien in Lance's clothing. She decided not to check wanting to save her eyes from the sight.

Pidge had searched around the castle for Shiro and Keith but just couldn't seem to find them. "Huh, they might be on the training deck. That's the only place I haven't looked yet."

To her surprise when she got there the deck was empty and there was only the faint glow of the control panel to the battle simulator. "Huh, that's odd." She would have thought for sure that the other two would have been here. But even though she didn't see them, Pidge still thought that she should look around just in case.

As she looked down to the simulation area she got a weird feeling in her chest. It was a mix between guilt and pity.

She was angry at herself that she skipped out on so many practices with the team. Maybe if she practiced more… Her hand lifted up to the scar on her cheek. No, she thought to herself, I can't go there. But feelings of weakness were starting to fill her mind.

If I was stronger I could be there for Shiro. I could protect him from whatever monsters he's facing. I could… I could show him that he doesn't need to be strong all by himself, that he doesn't need to protect me all the time.

With a frustrated groan she walked down to the simulation area.

I'm not practicing because I think I'm weak, she told herself, I'm just letting off steam. She slapped her cheeks with her hands as she tried to clear her mind. I am a valuable member to this team and I can't let myself think otherwise.

She stepped into the open space, let out a deep breath and took her bayard from the belt around her waist. She didn't have her armor on, but she had seen Keith practice plenty of times without it against the gladiator bot, so she didn't think twice about it. She took a small synthetic band from her pocket, leftover from one of her mock ups of Rover 2.0, and tied the top part of her hair back so it wouldn't get into her eyes. She placed Matt's glasses to the side so they wouldn't accidentally fall off and get damaged.

"Set simulation to intermediate difficulty level seven." She got into a fighting stance as she saw the gladiator bot slowly come to life. Its eyes took a faint glow and a sword, similar to Keith's, formed in its metallic fingers.

"Okay," she said letting out a relaxing breath, "Begin training sequence."

Keith was sitting on one of the many balconies in the castle and was looking at the scenery of the planet around him. The castle had stopped for slight repairs and to restock on some supplies so they landed on the nearest "friendly" planet.

He let out a deep breath as he saw something akin to an earth dear, but with ten horns and green fur, jump behind a bush at the sight of him. He shoved his hand through his disheveled hair.

"I just," he sighed and looked up to the sky, "I just don't understand why… Shiro is supposed to be the leader of Voltron." He started motioning with his hands, "Then why on earth would he do that to Pidge? And then not have anything to say for it?!" He held his head in his hands. "I just don't understand… I thought he was more than that, stronger even…"

Keith tensed when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey why ya talkin' to yourself mullet?"

The last person Keith was expecting to come up behind him, and last person he wanted to see right now, was Lance. He quickly changed his expression from pensive to serious and immediately turned to leave not wanting to talk about his feelings with his other teammate.

"Hey! Why are you walkin' away from me!" Lance hurried to follow Keith from the balcony back inside the castle. "Hey wait up!"

"I don't want to talk about it with you." Keith kept his steady pace ahead.

Lance's eyebrows quirked together. "What's that supposed to mean!"

"It means I don't want to talk to you, Peabrain."

Before Keith could turn the corner he was up against the wall. Lance's hands holding his arms above his shoulders and the other paladin's face dangerously close to his.

"What are you-!"

"Stupid." Lance's face got closer. "You shouldn't have punched Shiro."

"But he frickin' hurt Pidge and now she has a freakin' scar! Aren't you upset?!" Keith yelled making Lance withdraw his face a little bit.

"Of course I'm mad you moron!" He let out a breath to calm himself down and looked Keith straight in the eyes.

"But you also have to realize that Shiro's only human," his gaze never wavered focusing on the gray flecks in Keith's eyes, "he's been through alot and that stuff sticks with someone. He doesn't want us to realize it... but there's part of him that's broken, Keith." He looked down. "And he needs us now more than ever to help him heal. I think that's what Pidge was getting at when she said that she would choose to do it again." He looked back up, "Keith, I know you look up to him and… he's-he's my hero too, but we can't make him be someone he's not. We're a team now, and we have to help each other, we're a family."

Keith didn't realize he was crying until he felt his arms fall from above his head and Lance's soft hand wiping a tear from his cheek.

"I-I…"

"Come here," Lance opened up his arms and Keith practically fell into them as he started to wail into Lance's shoulder, "It's okay Keith. It's okay."

Lance slowly ran his hand through Keith's hair as he started to calm down.

"I really am a monster…." Keith whispered into Lance's jacket.

"What?"

Keith pushed Lance away and turned to walk down the hall. "Nothing. I need to go find Shiro."

Before Lance could say anything else, Keith was already out of sight.

"But I held you in my arms…."

A/N: I think Lance is smarter than he lets on..