Hey, guys! I'm sorry this took so long! I just started the summer semester of college and I spent most of the weekend knocking this out. It's not as long as I'd like and it's unedited, but I hope you enjoy! Happy fourth of July!

"Guys! I found something in Lance's room," Hunk called, running into the medical bay, holding tightly to the pad, Pidge only steps behind him. When he looked around, though, he went still. "What... what's going on?"

"It's Lance," Keith said, frowning. "He..."

"He's Altean," Allura continued. "Or at least, that is what the cryopod is saying."

"That would explain why he's been whipping through the training levels for hand-to-hand and close-range weapon combat," Pidge mused aloud. "He's been spending his nights in there for the past two weeks, almost constantly."

Hunk was silent still, looking up at his friend's face in the cryopod, dark bags under his eyes and raw spots on his cheeks. "But... how? How could Lance be Altean?"

"We... don't know. It will take some time for the pod to finish running a diagnostic and to give us a direct line to his ancestors," Coran said, fiddling with something on a panel. "But... this... this is something that we can handle. What is it that you found in his room, Hunk?"

"Oh, that. Um. Apparently Lance has been preparing for something bad to happen, because... well, he wrote out a will." Pidge and Keith gasped in response, though Allura and Coran remained silent.

"What is a 'will'?" Allura questioned, looking between the three humans. "You make it seem like something bad."

"A will is... well, almost exactly what it sounds like. It's a backup plan for if you die. You're 'willing' your worldly possessions to... surviving family and friends." Keith was the first to speak in order to explain. "They're formally called a 'Last Will and Testament'. Legally binding ones require at least two witnesses."

"So Lance was... prepared to die. Even though he did not want to be here?"

"That's probably why he was prepared, Princess," Hunk said morosely. "He seems like a really optimistic guy most of the time but he has his serious moments and sometimes things get really... heavy. He's been thinking about it for a while, I think, there were a lot of crossed out lines before what's actually written."

"But there's nothing to prove that he was planning to... you know?" Pidge seemed concerned, which Hunk could understand. The two hadn't been close before, but it was hard not to worry when one of your friends, close or not, straight up collapsed in the middle of training.

"No, nothing like that," he confirmed, relieved that he was able to say so. "But he hasn't been eating a lot, and I think he's been having nightmares, which might explain him being up all night." Hunk let out a sigh. "I'm not... I'm not gonna read it aloud. It's... I think it's too private. But I'm not sorry I found it."

"Oh so you'll read my journal aloud to everyone but you won't – " Pidge cut herself off, then sighed. She wouldn't want anyone to read her will aloud, not if she wasn't dead. "Yeah, I get that."

Silence fell between the group as they looked up at Lance, then over to Coran. "When can we expect those results?" Allura questioned, looking hopeful.

"I don't know," Coran admitted. "It's been quite some time since the pods have needed to do this much work. But I'll let you all know as soon as I find out," he assured.

"That's all we can ask for," Keith said with a nod, cutting Allura off when it looked like she wanted to argue. "For now, I think we should take a break. Maybe get some food and talk about what we know. I think that we've been putting it off for too long."

"You mean, about... about Shiro? Or about Lance?" Pidge asked. Both subjects were sore and painful to think about, let alone talk about.

"Both. Shiro's disappearance is what started this downward spiral with Lance. It's only going to get worse if we don't talk about it." Keith didn't want to broach the subject, but after this, he knew it was necessary.

"I... yeah, okay," Pidge agreed, though reluctantly. Anything was better than wallowing in misery and guilt.

Silence reigned throughout the halls as the paladins made their way to the group sitting area, taking off armor and making themselves as comfortable as possible as they seated themselves a comfortable distance from each other. It was a long period of silence, and it felt like an eternity. Again, Keith was the first to speak.

"I know that Shiro's disappearance was hard on all of us for varying reasons," he started, feeling unsure of what to say. "I get it. Not only was he our team leader, he was like a brother to me. Pidge, he was the last connection to your family until we get them back. It's going to be hard until we get him back." Keith took in a deep breath through his nose, thinking about Shiro's words of wisdom. Patience yields focus. "We should have talked about this two weeks ago before anyone decided that we needed to switch lions," he added, avoiding looking at Allura.

"I still stand by that decision," Allura said firmly. "We need a black paladin, and Keith, you were closest to Shiro. You and Lance are much alike, so it only made sense for him to pilot the red lion."

"Yeah, but-" Hunk interjected, then froze. "Lance and Keith aren't actually all that alike, princess. They both seem hotheaded and reckless at first glance. But... Well, Lance isn't like that at all, not really."

"What do you mean?" Allura seemed confused. Not that any of the paladins could blame her – she didn't spend time with any of the paladins save Shiro, not more than giving orders or passing conversation. Certainly never enough time to get to know them.

"Well, Lance puts up a front because that's what people expect. He's really smart – just like the rest of us. How else would he get into the Garrison?" Pidge pointed out. She'd never been really buddy-buddy with Lance, but she knew that he could keep up her technical conversations with Hunk. Not to mention that she'd found his Altean dictionary work. "And I was in the same Strategy class as him. He was the top of the class, even though all he ever did was goof off."

"Oh, really? I didn't know that," Hunk said with a light laugh. "He hates schoolwork, so he never talked about it, really." Pausing, Hunk turned to Allura again. "I've known Lance for a while, Princess. He's actually really insecure, even if he puts up this huge front of being overconfident in himself. And he's... really good at hiding things. He..." Hunk trailed off, frowning as he looked at the pad on the seat next to him.

"He hated me for a little bit, I think," Keith spoke up again finally, having had enough of the silence. "I figured it out a while ago. I mean, now it's just turned into teasing, but... Me getting kicked out is the only reason he got into fighter class, isn't it?"

"Well, not the only reason, but it's a big one," Hunk confirmed. "He's got a big family, so he was going to the Garrison by scholarship. He worked himself sick just before the final day of testing to get into the fighter class and got stuck in the infirmary, so he wasn't able to get in. When you dropped out, Lance was the first choice to replace you, simply because he had top scores in every other portion of the test and good enough grades in all of his classes to keep up with the makeup work."

"And knowing Iverson – he's the reason I got kicked out – he took every chance he could to rub it in Lance's face that he only got in because I dropped out. So..."

"Having to take your place as the red paladin probably didn't help that." Pidge sighed as she realized what had been hurting Lance so much.

"And the Blue lion was his only connection to his home," Allura reasoned, eyes wide. "No wonder she wants Lance back as soon as possible. The Blue lion is very upset with me for taking Lance's place, though she is willing to work with me until we have Shiro back."

"Lance doesn't think that, though," Hunk blurted out after a moment. "It was in his will. He thinks that you and Blue make a great team, Allura, he doesn't know how much she wants him back. Oh my god, do... do you think he was going to try and leave the team when we got Shiro back? He said in his will that he wanted Blue and Allura to work together, do you think that he thought... that we didn't need him?" The simple act of even stringing those words together made something in Hunk's chest ache.

There was almost as much horror in the expressions of the other paladins, so Hunk was relieved that it wasn't just him who found the idea terrifying. There was silence for a long time. "We should go eat something. There's not a lot we can do just dwelling on things," Allura said firmly. "And if we want to support Lance then we have to have our own strength."

"Right. Um, there's plenty of food in the kitchen, so..." Hunk trailed off, brow furrowed and eyes distant. It was clear that he was still thinking about what he had read.

The paladins filed out of the room, heading towards the kitchen, though Hunk stayed sitting, the pad held tightly in one hand as the other gripped his knee, the touch almost painful. Hunk flinched when a hand touched his shoulder, and looked up to see Pidge.

"He wasn't giving up, or anything," she said after a moment, sitting down. "He's learning Altean in his spare time, not that he has much between all the training he's been doing. And.. he's up to level 24 on the simulator."

"Woah, really? Keith isn't even there yet." Hunk was impressed – why hadn't Lance told any of them about this?

"I know, right?" Pidge grinned at Hunk for a moment before her expression faltered. "I'm amazed that he's been learning Altean. I tried, but I gave up after the teaching program tried to kill me."

"Well, Lance does have a knack for languages. English isn't even his first language. He grew up speaking Spanish and he only learned English a year or two before he came to the Garrison."

"That's why he messes up his words sometimes? Not just because he's trying to be funny?"

"Yeah. Lance is... he's a genius, really. But the things that you and I do, they're completely different in Spanish. He can't keep up when we're talking about everything in English, because he has to translate everything in his head, and then translate his response back, and by then we've moved on." Hunk sighed. "I guess that's part of why he hasn't been hanging out as much. If he thinks that we don't need him, then he'd... well, he'd do exactly what he did." Hunk paused, then turned to Pidge. "Come on, let's go get something to eat. There's no point in just sitting around, waiting."

"Right," Pidge agreed, walking with Hunk back to the kitchen, where Keith and Allura were already waiting. "I really hope that he'll be okay. I have to apologize. I've been.. I haven't been a good friend."

After almost an hour, to the paladins' reckoning, Coran's voice came through the speakers. "I have the results, paladins. You may come to the infirmary to discuss what I've found," he said clearly, and the paladins dropped their discussion, leaving their armor and rushing to the medical bay to learn what Coran had found out.

"Well?" Allura all but demanded as they entered, gathering around Coran as he looked up at them. "What did you find?"

"The previous Blue Paladin was a close cousin of your father," Coran began, looking at Allura. "She took the Blue Lion to Earth when the paladins scattered, and apparently she was well enough to survive the trip after escaping. She must have began a family on Earth," he explained. "Lance's human family eventually moved from where the Blue Lion was hidden. It appears that finding the Blue Lion was what had initially triggered the gene shift, but spending so much time in the cryopods, which are geared towards Altean DNA brought it forth more prevalently."

"The short version?" Keith asked, having a hard time wrapping his head around what Coran was saying.

"Lance would be considered a distant cousin to Allura, and... essentially a part of the Royal line." Coran looked at Allura once more. "You're still first in succession, obviously, but unless you have an heir at some point, then upon your death the crown would go to Lance."

"I... would need to discuss that with him." Allura looked torn between elation and confusion. "Would Lance even want to take the throne? He knows nothing of Altean politics."

"But he could learn, if he wanted to," Keith reminded the princess, their very recent conversation coming to mind. "Lance is more than just flirting, Princess."

"I... yes. I'll discuss it with him when he wakes up," Allura decided with a firm nod. "His ears and hair, though?"

"The healing pod is making the changes much easier," Coran explained. "His ears are changing even now. And his hair will begin to grow out white, so he will have brown hair for some time yet."

"What color will the marks on his face be? Do those have any special meaning?" Pidge asked, stepping closer to the pod and looking up at Lance's face. He didn't look that different, just tired.

"The colors often hold meaning to each person. There is no way of knowing what color Lance's will be until they finish forming."

"Oh." Pidge seemed disappointed. "And I guess the colors are supposed to be really personal, so it would be considered rude to ask about the meaning, then."

"Generally, yes," Coran confirmed, but he sounded amused. Probably because they didn't have to be as worried about Lance. "They actually form all over the body, but are most commonly seen on the face. Most Alteans choose to wear long-sleeved clothing that hides the markings."

"How come?" Keith asked, frowning. That seemed odd – like hiding freckles, or something.

"I... don't actually know the answer to that," Coran admitted. "It's just something that we've done for hundreds of years."

"So how long will it be before he wakes up?" Hunk asked, still concerned for Lance, even though they knew he would be okay.

"It shouldn't be too long, since the biggest problem was exhaustion. He'll need to get some sleep outside of the pod, though, since there's only so much that the pod can do to heal that." Coran softened slightly as he looked up at Lance's tired face in the pod. "He's been avoiding everyone, hasn't he?"

Keith, Pidge, and Hunk looked sheepish before nodding, and Allura watched their response before giving a firm nod of her own. "We didn't realize just how much we'd been pushing him away," Keith admitted. "All of us had some of the picture, but we hadn't worked together to see all of it. We need to work on communication, as individuals and as a team."

"And we need to make sure that if we see something off, we confront it. I had noticed that Lance was acting odd, but I figured he would work it out on his own or come to me if he wanted to talk. And it... didn't work out like that," Hunk said after a long moment. "I want to make sure that he knows that no matter what, I'm there for him. I didn't do enough to prove that to him."

"Hunk, I'm sure –" Whatever Coran was about to say was cut off by the hiss of the pod opening, and Lance stumbling out, groggy and disoriented.

"Lance!" The paladin's name was called by every other person in the room, and Lance looked around in confusion, brow furrowed as he looked at the concerned faces focused on him.

"Guys? Wh... what's going on?"

"You passed out in the middle of training," Keith said, deciding to get it out of the way as soon as possible. "We had to put you in a pod, since you weren't waking up."

"And we discovered something wonderful!" Allura added, cutting in. "You're Altean, Lance! See, your ancestor was a cousin of my father's, who piloted the Blue Lion to Earth and made a life there!"

Lance blinked slowly as Allura gushed, trying to process her words. He was... Altean?

"Wh.. Are you serious? You guys are just screwing with me, right?" Lance demanded, eyes wide, dark circles emphasized even more by the unreadable emotions in his expression. "Th-there's no way. I'm just a boy from Cuba," he insisted.

"Lance, you're my cousin," Allura said, slowly and clearly. "You're second in line to the royal throne of Altea!" She missed the glare that Keith, Hunk, and Pidge sent her – she was supposed to ask about that in private for a reason, not just push it onto him. But Allura was Allura – she had a habit of pushing duties onto others who may not be ready to accept those duties.

"No way. No. Not... I'm not doing this right now," Lance said, frowning and pushing past Allura, glancing at Hunk, Keith, and Pidge on his way. "She... she's not serious, is she?" His expression was begging them to tell him that he was right, that Allura was lying, that this was just a misunderstanding. "Hunk?"

"Lance, I... she's not lying, it's... Coran confirmed it himself and... well, the evidence is kind of impossible to ignore," he said, hoping to soften the blow.

"What do you mean, impossible to ignore?" Lance's voice cracked as he asked the question, fear now obvious in his eyes. "It's... oh, no," he said, sudden realization dawning over him as he raised a hand to touch one of his ears. It wasn't round anymore – it felt more like Allura's looked. "I... This isn't... this can't be right," Lance breathed, voice a hushed sound.

"Lance, it's –" Keith started, but he was cut off by the red paladin turning and dashing out of the room, the door open and shut before anyone could react.

"Shit, go after him," Pidge said, already starting to run to the door. She hardly got a few steps, though, before an alarm started going off.

"The proximity alert!" Allura said, shocked. "We can't have gotten so close to another world already..."

"We need to focus on that. If worst comes to worst, we can fight without Lance. For now... Coran, can you look for Lance? The rest of us need to get to the lions," Keith said, making a decision.

"I can do that," Coran agreed, looking at the Paladins. Hunk looked torn, and he gave the yellow paladin a small smile. "Don't worry, I'll find him."

"Alright," Hunk agreed, following the others out of the infirmary. Coran stood in the infirmary alone for a long moment, then sighed, turning on the sensors to find where Lance had disappeared to. Not any of the common areas, or the library... Ah! His room.

"Lance," Coran muttered, brow furrowed as he walked while twisting his mustache. "I realize that this must be hard for you. You didn't ask to be Altean and you certainly don't need to feel the need to take up the responsibility of being a prince. No... No, that doesn't sound right." He sighed, shaking his head as he continued to Lance's room, knocking on the door and frowning as he received no answer. "Lance? It's Coran. May I come in?"

The response was silence, but after a moment, the door slid open, and Coran stepped inside, frowning again as he saw Lance leaning against the wall next to the door, knees curled to his chest as he glared morosely at the floor. Lance looked lost, almost scared... not that he would ever admit to it.

"Lance," Coran started, rethinking his earlier planned words as he sat down across from the teenager. "I'm sure this is hard. It's a big change to get used to," he offered lightly. "Allura is... overexcited. I know that she goes too far sometimes. You certainly don't need to feel obligated to become a prince – being royalty is not your responsibility." Coran hoped that Lance would respond to that at least, but silence was his only answer. "I just want you to know that I'm here for you to talk to, my boy. I thought that you would come to me earlier, but I want to make sure that you know I am here now."

Lance finally responded to that, turning watery eyes on the older Altean. "Why don't I matter to them?" He asked in a hushed voice, fingers curled in the legs of the bodysuit. "They didn't care until now. Until they find out that I'm... that I'm not Human. What is it about being Altean that makes me so special that they suddenly give a damn?"

Coran hesitated, then reached out, putting a hand on Lance's shoulder. "We all care," he said softly. "I know that Allura is not good at showing it. She has never had personal relationships like this before, and Humans are very different from Alteans in how praise and affection is shown and received. And I know that even I am not the best at doing so – I probably don't seem very approachable," Coran pointed out. "But your fellow paladins are caring in their own way. They all ask about you over dinner when you don't show up, and when they go to meals while you hide away, they comment on how much you've improved. They want to interact with you more, but they have been so concerned about making the situation worse that they haven't acted."

Tears started to roll down Lance's cheeks as Coran spoke. "But they... they pushed me away," he whispered, brow furrowed with confusion. "Keith told me that they wanted me to eat in my room, that..."

Coran thought, wondering about the last time Lance had eaten with them. "That we all wanted you to get some rest, and recover before you stress yourself by trying to socialize," he explained, squeezing Lance's shoulder. "We have all been worried. And I will make sure that Allura apologizes. It was wrong of her to have an outburst like that. I don't know if you saw, but Hunk, Keith, and Pidge were all glaring at her as you left. It seems that, though you have not been socializing much, the three are still very much on your side."

"Oh," Lance said quietly, sniffing wetly and wiping at his eyes. "I heard an alarm. Is everyone okay?"

"They all went to their lions," Coran said, pulling back a little to give Lance some space. "They wanted me to make sure that you were alright."

Lance nodded, wiping at his face again and then reaching for his armor, giving Coran a tight smile. "I'm going to go help them. I'm... I'm still Lance, I can still do this," he said, taking a deep breath and nodding.

"I will leave you to it, then," Coran stepped out of the room as he spoke, smiling. "I'll inform the others that you are on your way."