Strength = the power to overcome obstacles

Sirens blared, shattering the silence of the Castle of Lions. The simulated light of the early morning suddenly flared into full brightness.

"We are under attack!" Allura's voice rang through the halls of the castle. "Paladins, we are under attack! We need Voltron! Hurry!"

On the Navigation Bay to the continuous noise of sirens Ren frowned, glancing over at the Altean royalty beside her. "I don't know if this is such a good idea."

"Nonsense," Allura countered, foot tapping as she watched the door. "They need to be prepared. Now that Zarkon is aware of us we could be attacked at any time."

"Well, sure," the human mechanic agreed slowly. "But-"

"You need to sell it more!" Coran interrupted, landing between them and taking the microphone from Allura. The man cleared his throat before wailing through the speakers. "Oh no! The Princess is dead! This is terrible!"

Ren balked, startled by the sudden shouting. "What are you doing?"

"Her severed head is trying to speak!" Coran continued, dropping to the floor in a fit of dramatic flair. "What are your last words, Allura's head!"

The door to the Navigation Bay slid open, Shiro practically shoving himself through when the door didn't open fast enough. Aileen was several steps behind the pilot, her blanket still around her shoulders and one hand on Pidge's arm, half dragging the Paladin along with her. Keith came running with enough haste that he nearly smacked into the doorframe as he rounded the corner, looking dazed. Hunk was the last into the room, slow jogging with all the hurry he could manage while seeming to still be asleep. He was the only one still in his pajamas.

"What..?" The Yellow Paladin mumbled, squinting blearily about the room for any sign of a threat.

"Coran," the Princess frowned down at her Advisor. "It's over."

"Yes," the mustached man all but weeped, throwing an arm across his eyes. "If only we had Voltron!"

"So, I take it there's no real threat?" Shiro said slowly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's a wake up call," Ren offered with a shrug. "The Princess wanted to test the castle's alarm system and thought she should shout at you all too."

"It was a test," Allura pointed out. "For the alarm system as well as for them. Guess who failed." There was a pause as the Princess's gaze swept across those in the room. "And where is Lance?"

"But Ren," Aileen looked particularly betrayed, despite being one of the more awake teenagers. "You hate wake up calls!"

"Correct," the mechanic agreed, reaching out and booping her cousin lightly on the nose. The blonde recoiled, frowning. "But a wake up call implies sleep, of which I have had none." Ren sighed, gaze somewhere distant and unfocused though her smile didn't stray. "I really miss coffee."

"Oh, coffee," Shiro said slowly, as if he had forgotten about the concept. "Coffee would be amazing."

The door to the Navigation Bay slid open with a quiet 'whoosh', revealing the missing Paladin. Lance stood in the doorway as if he were posing for a pajama photo shoot; the teenager the only one in the room, besides the Alteans, that seemed well rested.

"Morning all," Lance lifted the cup in his hand in greeting. Either he was perfectly aware of his timing or he had no idea an alarm had even sounded. "Did I miss anything?" Ren suspected the latter.

The mechanic frowned, eyes focusing on the cup in Lance's hand. "Izzat coffee?"

The Blue Paladin paused, sensing the subtle threat to Ren's question. "Uh, no? It's some of that weird Altean stuff Coran was talking about last night."

"God damnit," Ren sighed, shoulders dropping. "I hate space."

Lance blinked. "Wait, that isn't it, is it?" At the mechanic's blank look he elaborated. "Why you hate space?"

Aileen choked on a sudden bark of laughter, any attempt at silence it failing spectacularly. Ren's frown deepened, looking as if she were wondering about her impression she was making on these kids.

"That's not it." The brunette paused for a moment before shrugging her shoulders. "Well, it's not helping."

Shiro rubbed at his chin absently, as if he had just remembered something and was unsure how much he trusted the memory. "The Kerberos Mission had coffee. It was that terrible instant powder, about as bad as they served in the staff break room." He chuckled softly, the ghost of a smile tugging at his lips. "Matt said it tasted better if you ate it straight."

Ren snorted as her cousin looked personally affronted. "Yeah but he said that about the Garrison brew too." Several of the teenagers looked disturbed. "Granted he hadn't slept for about three days at the time."

"Oh, I remember that," Pidge added. "That was before his final presentation before the Kerberos crew was finalized."

"Enough!" The Princess snapped, bringing the heel of her boot down on the floor. Hunk, half dozing on his feet, startled awake. "That is more than enough of that!"

The Altean royal shut her eyes for the span of two deep breaths, wrestling for control over her temper.

"You have to understand the scope of our mission," Allura frowned. There was less obvious anger to her voice as she pressed a few buttons beside her. A holographic display flickered into life, filling the navigation deck with spots of light: coordinates for planets and solar systems across the expanse of the galaxy. "While we were asleep the castle picked up distress beacons from the following locations."

The color of the display changed rapidly, a deep angry red all but devouring the original soft blue of the hologram. It was a dramatic visual, even remembering it was a time lapse covering thousands of years.

"It's safe to assume that Zarkon has conquered nearly the entire known galaxy," the Princess continued and Ren finally recognized the new emotion in Allura's voice. Guilt. Allura waved a hand and the map focused on one of the few remaining sections of blue. "Earth is here. An attack on your planet is inevitable." The Altean woman sighed as the others in the room processed her information, the map fading away behind her. "Our mission is to free all those planets. Coran and I are getting the castle ready to leave Arus. In the meantime you Paladins must learn how to form Voltron if we are to stand any chance of fighting Zarkon legitimately."

The human mechanic made a gesture, silently throwing a hand up as her own efforts were overlooked.

"Oh, you've been very helpful," Coran insisted with a twist of his mustache. "For not being familiar with Altean technology you've done a remarkable job of not destroying anything in your efforts to help."

"Thank...you…" Ren responded slowly, wondering just how to take the man's comment. It didn't seem as if he was intentionally insulting her. The brunette wondered vaguely if that was somehow worse.

"I'm sorry, I have a question," Aileen interrupted, holding up a hand. "What do you mean you're getting the castle ready to leave the planet?"

"That's right, you were asleep for that revelation," her cousin said, stepping over to her cousin and placing a hand on her shoulders. With her free hand Ren gestured to the whole of the navigation deck. "The castle, the whole entire thing, is also a space ship."

The blonde was silent for a heartbeat. "Okay, sure. Of course it is."

"The Princess is right," Shiro began, steering the conversation back to the previous topic. We should get to our Lions and run some flight drills."

"Wait." This time it was Pidge that interrupted, frowning up at the taller pilot. "I want to talk to the prisoners we rescued from the Galra ship."

In a remarkably fluid motion Coran appeared before Pidge. "Negative, number 5. I have you ranked by height." He explained, lifting a hand to just above The small Paladin's head. Pidge's frown deepened. Turning slightly, Coran nodded to Ren and Aileen. "You two can be 'A' and 'B'."

"Dibs on 'A'," the blonde said quickly. Turning to her cousin Aileen grinned, looking smug. "It's only fair."

"I'm older-" Ren caught herself arguing and sighed, shaking her head. "Fine."

"The prisoners need to remain in the cryo-replenishers until tomorrow," the Advisor continued. "You won't be able to speak with them until then."

The newly appointed Green Paladin frowned, obviously wanting to continue arguing. Ren stepped forward, placing a hand gently on Pidge's shoulder. The shorter brunette blinked and looked up to meet Ren's smile. "Lee and I will check in on them while you're out there. If anything changes we'll let you know."

Pidge hesitated for a heartbeat longer before nodding. "Thanks Ren."

The mechanic removed her hand, pausing only to gently pinch the Green Paladin's cheek. "I want to hear what they have to say, too. We'll keep you informed."

The Paladins separated, each going their own way to the respective Lions Den. The Princess and the two human women remaining in the Navigation Bay, Coran briefly disappearing to prepare for the repairs to the castle. Allura made a gesture, several screens appearing before her, displaying outside views of the castle and surrounding area along with several complicated looking displays and diagrams.

For as confident as the five had been when they left the castle, once in the air the Paladins seemed to have no real idea of what they were doing. From what Ren could make out from the symbols on the display screens Shiro seemed have begun with leading the group through a few basic flight drills and, failing that, forming a Jenga tower out of the Lions.

"No, no. This isn't working," Allura mumbled, more to herself than the remaining occupants of the Navigation Bay, as she watched the Lions move about on the screen. "They need proper motivation. They need…"

Something flashed behind the Princess' eyes, a jolt of inspiration. Allura's fingers flew to the screen in front of her, moving rapidly to follow whatever plan had formed.

"Paladins!" she spoke over the communicator, excitement lighting her voice. "The intensity of your last battle brought you together as a team and forced you to focus and work as one." There was a general murmur of consensus. "I'm glad you agree! Because I need to run a diagnostic on the castle's defenses. This will help!"

"Wait," Ren lifted her head, looking between the Altean woman and her cousin. Aileen was making a face as if she had just been assigned laundry duty. "What did she say?"

Outside the windows of the Navigation Bay the Particle Barrier flared into life, followed shortly by the sound of laser fire and static-y screaming from over the communication line.

"What are you doing?!" Keith's voice demanded, almost lost to the sounds of rattling and background screaming.

"Helping!" Allura exclaimed, concerningly enthusiastic. "This is now a harrowing situation. I believe in you Paladins! Let fear be your guide!"

Ren watched, wide eyed, as the Princess smiled and stepped away from the control screen. Allura all but skipped away, perfectly pleased with herself and with no visible intent on returning.

"Jesus Christ," Aileen muttered as her cousin scrambled for the abandoned controls.

"She locked it!" Ren yelped, half frantic in the realization. "There's no way to turn it off. It's firing live rounds."

"Jesus Christ," Aileen repeated, dragging her hands down her face. Pausing, the blonde looked out between her fingers, watching as Ren attempted to fix the issue with button pushing. "Isn't all laser fire a 'live round' though?"

The mechanic frowned, momentarily distracted from her worry. "Don't pussyfoot with my terminology. You know what I mean."

"I don't think you're using that word correctly."

"Aileen."

The Paladins returned, stiff and slow moving, hours later. Lance fell face first onto the first couch he found, groaning into the cushions. The others sat down in a much more normal manner, if only with awkwardly slow movements that Ren understood well.

"Went well, did it?" Ren asked needlessly as she looked over the tired teenagers. Her demeanor was casual, though her fingers closed just a little too tightly around the leather of her tool belt, her expression a little stiff. Lance groaned louder, face still smashed into the couch cushions. The mechanic nodded, "Wonderful."

"How long were we out there?" Pidge asked, head dropping back against the couch. "It felt like hours."

"Oh it was," Aileen responded. "At least three."

The Princess stepped into the room, her Advisor two steps behind her. Both Alteans seemed to be focused on the devices in their hands and the readings on the screen. They spoke quickly, some terms even familiar enough for Ren to recognize in passing, until Allura noticed the four seated Paladins.

"You did it!" Allura exclaimed, beaming. "You formed Voltron!"

"No," Keith said shortly. "Eventually the shooting stopped and the barrier went down so we came in."

The Princess' expression fell, her face instantly darkening as she turned her head to look in her Advisor's direction. Coran offered an apologetic smile. "I'm very sorry, Princess, but I had to turn off the castle defenses to test the fire suppressors."

"The Particle Barrier still needs recalibrating," Ren spoke up as if she had just remembered. "It still won't survive more than two blasts from those Galra Ion Cannons."

Allura turned her attention to the human mechanic, one eyebrow raised and mouth pressed thin. "I thought you said you could handle that."

"Oh, I plan to," the brunette insisted, crossing her arms. "There's just two small issues. I can't read Altean hieroglyphics and the only Ion Cannon to test the barrier with is smashed into the ground somewhere. I can do a lot but I can't work miracles."

Before the Princess could respond the second door to the room slid open, revealing the absent Black Paladin. Shiro stepped into the room, hands on his hips, and looking remarkably like a man that had just caught his children sneaking cookies before dinner. "What are you doing? We're not taking a break."

"Shiro's right," Allura insisted, content to turn the conversation back to the Paladins. "You should be training."

"We've been training," Hunk sighed, looking exhausted. "When are we going back to Earth?"

Pidge frowned, sitting upright. "I'm not going back until I find my family."

"There won't be an Earth unless we can figure out how to fight Zarkon," Shiro said, the underlying threat in his words enough to elevate the tension in the room. Aileen turned, sharing a glance with her cousin and teeth finding her bottom lip. Ren returned the look, shaking her head. The movement was so minute that it was almost unnoticed.

"How?" Lance demanded, rolling over and pulling himself upright. "How are we supposed to fight? We can't even figure out how to form Voltron!"

"Well I'm not surprised," Coran said, his voice oddly peppy for the serious tone of the conversation. "The original Paladins fought hundreds of battles together. They were completely in sync! You lot have barely been fighting for a day."

"Yeah, no kidding," Lance sighed, dropping himself bodily back onto the couch.

"During the last battle your survival instincts must have kicked in," the Advisor explained. "But that will only get you so far. You'll have to work as a real team for any hope of success. Perhaps it's time we moved to the Training Deck."

"There's a Training Deck?" Hunk asked, incredulous.

"So you didn't have to shoot at them for three hours," Ren frowned, distaste clear.

"We did," Allura insisted as the mechanic's lip curled. "It's clear now exactly how much work there is left to do."

"It's a lot," Coran added in that happy voice of his, trying to be helpful.

On the surface the Training Deck seemed nothing special. It was a large expanse of a room, big enough to run combat drills with the full set of Paladins without limiting movement and an observation room behind what Ren could only assume to be reinforced glass. It was lacking any sort of exercise equipment the former Tech Sergeant was familiar with but if she were honest she hadn't been expecting any. The Altean advisor stood the closest to the glass, testing the microphone.

"Now," Coran began, speaking to the Paladins in the room below. "The Paladin Code dictates that you put the safety of your companions above your own."

"Can't see how that could go wrong," Aileen muttered, stepping up beside her cousin and leaning closer to the viewing window. "Throw yourself in front of incoming fire instead of letting your buddy block. Not like we need all of you guys or anything."

"I don't think it's that literal," Ren responded, attempting to sound as if she believed it. "I'm sure it's more like covering for your companion's blind spots."

On the Training Deck proper little circular drones began their round of laser fire. Hunk ducked almost instantly to avoid a shot, his action quickly followed by a yelp as Pidge was hit from behind and disappeared from the exercise.

The brunette woman winced in sympathy. "Like that. He probably should have blocked that."

"Protect your teammates!" Coran called as the Yellow Paladin dropped an instant later. "Or no one will be there to protect you!"

The exercise as a whole lasted only a handful of minutes. The remaining three Paladins might have had a chance of doing decently if Lance and Keith hadn't started mouthing off. Once the two took their eyes from the droids to exchange comebacks any hope of a longer performance was destroyed. Shiro was the last to fall but the only one to slide an impressive distance across the training room floor after taking a hit.

"Let's...try something else," the Altean Advisor said as the two human women beside him made a face.

"Urgh," added Aileen, shaking her head.

"Yeesh," Ren agreed.

The second exercise involved one of the Paladins navigating another through an invisible maze. Keith was chosen to move Lance through the maze and the Blue Paladin was having none of it, shouting about Keith walking him into walls on purpose and the Red Paladin getting defensive about Lance not listening properly.

"Coran," the former Tech Sergeant began as Lance screamed again. Beside her Aileen made a face, looking as if she wanted to cover her eyes. "I can't help but feel you're doing this on purpose."

"Oh, I most certainly am," the man responded easily, twisting an end of his mustache. "These two are currently the ones with the most trouble working together. It won't go away by simply ignoring it."

Ren nodded, thoughtful. "Well, you're not-" Her words were cut short by a dull thunk as the Blue Paladin's helmet smacked against the observation window, directly in front of Keith's face. She sighed. "You're not wrong."

The next training exercise seemed to be focused on meditation and mental projection. The Paladins sat in a close circle, some sort of helmet ready to project their thoughts to the room.

"Okay," Aileen commented, stuffing her hands into her pockets. "Now I'm glad Keith beat me out for Big Red. I don't want everyone rooting around in my head."

Her cousin arched an eyebrow, teasing, "Thinking dirty thoughts are we?"

The blonde snorted, laughter in her voice. "I'm sorry, which one of us got caught macking on someone after curfew in a supply closet?"

"Shh, shut up." Ren hissed, shoving Aileen on the shoulder. "And I didn't get caught. And that has nothing to do with the situation at hand."

Down below on the training floor Lance's shoulders shook, the teenager doubling over with poorly suppressed laughter. Ren's head whipped around to Coran, cheeks pink. "Can they hear us?!"

The Altean smiled apologetically. "Would it make you feel better if I said no?"

"I wouldn't believe you," the brunette frowned. "But you could say it."

"Then not at all!" Coran turned his attention back to the viewing window, clearing his throat. On the training floor Lance had managed to get control of his laughter, though he still seemed to snicker on occasion. "Now, the most important part of Paladin training is being able to meld your minds and focus on one thing: Voltron. Everything else has to fade away. So clear your minds, and breathe."

From the distance of the observation box it was difficult to see what appeared on the tiny holographic screens before the individual Paladins. Some wavered, the whole image rolling like a turbulent sea, making it impossible even as Aileen and Ren stepped closer to the glass and squinted.

The desert shack.

A large group of people that was likely Lance's family as he had last seen them.

The most important picture in the world to Pidge, much larger and clearer than the polaroid.

A brief, crystal clear image of the Garrison moments before the Kerberos launch.

Ren swallowed as the screens flickered, forming Lions. One by one the holographic Lions floated stiffly towards the center where they would meet. All except for the miniature Green Lion. Pidge frowned, one eyebrow twitching, as the Lion flickered between form and keepsake image.

"Oh, Pidge," Aileen breathed, hand pressing against the glass.

"Pidge," Keith snapped, opening one eye to glower at the Green Paladin. "Quit thinking about your girlfriend!"

"I'm not!" Pidge retorted, temper short. "It was Hunk. He's rooting around in my head!"

"Oh, sorry," the Yellow Paladin piped up, though he didn't sound apologetic. "I thought we were being open."

"Clear your minds!" Coran called out, tone urgent and insistent as he hoped to squash the impending argument.

Things fell apart quickly, with Pidge unable to focus and quickly growing more irritated. Keith's temper was also running short, the Red Paladin becoming increasingly snappish each time the exercise failed. It was difficult to watch, even for Ren and Aileen, each time that picture flashed into focus.

"I'm done!" Pidge finally snapped, slamming the helmet into the ground. "I don't like everyone poking around in my head like this. I'm done."

"Come on, Pidge," Shiro began gently. "We're doing pretty well here."

"No!" The Green Paladin bristled then sighed, deflating. "I'm just...I'm tired."

"Right," Shiro nodded, pulling the helmet from his head. "Let's take a break, everyone."

The tension in the room didn't dissipate, but it faded considerably as the mental training exercise was left behind. Everyone seemed more than willing to take a moment where they weren't pushed to complete a task, the tension in Keith's shoulders dropping as the atmosphere became more casual.

"They should eat something," Ren said as Coran passed out what might have been juice boxes to the Paladins. "No one got breakfast and it's well past lunch now."

"They have been working hard," Coran agreed. "Perhaps-"

"What are you doing?" the Princess demanded, sounding as if she had just caught them rifling through her drawers. "You're supposed to be training, not lazing around!"

"Just taking a quick break," Coran explained as Ren's eyes narrowed. "You can't push too hard after all."

"What do you mean 'can't push too hard'?" Allura scoffed, gaze steely. "Get up. It's time to face the Gladiator."

In the only proper display of unison since entering the Training Deck the younger Paladins groaned, Lance literally dropping back onto the floor. Ren pressed her lips together, looking displeased, and the Princess' gaze snapped to her.

"I take it you have something to add?"

The mechanic's eyebrow arched, tipping her chin up to meet Allura's cold stare with ease. "Don't get your panties in a twist, Princess. If I had something to say to you, I'd say it."

Hunk leaned over slightly, stage whispering to the blonde girl standing beside him. "Are they going to fight?"

"Not yet," Aileen answered, sounding only mildly disappointed.

The Paladins were ushered back onto their feet and told to draw their Bayards as the rest of the group retreated back to the observation deck. Keith was the only one to hold his weapon with any amount of confidence, closely followed by Pidge. Hunk was hesitant, carefully handling his blaster, and Lance seemed more focused on looking cool.

Aileen nudged her cousin with an elbow, nodding her head towards the Yellow and Blue Paladins. "Have they ever even touched a gun before?"

"Doubtful," the mechanic tapped lightly at her chin, watching the two teenagers. "Garrett is too timid and McClain seems to be mirroring movie holds. Neither of them have any trigger discipline."

"They're going to shoot themselves," Aileen hissed, pressing her hands to the glass over the two gun toting Paladins as if she could knock some sense into them from a distance. "Or each other."

Sure enough when the Gladiator dropped and began its attack Hunk attempted to counter with an arc of laser fire, nearly hitting Keith in the process. The bulky teenager was quickly dispatched, knocked flat and stunned from the robot's staff. Pidge moved in next, all fast slashing movements and attempted counters.

"Pidge has a good technical grasp of combat," Ren watched as the shorter Paladin winced each time the Gladiator returned a blow. "But no real experience."

Aileen had to cover her face with her hands as Lance's gun was knocked from his hands with minimal effort, the Blue Paladin sent flying into Keith. Both boys crumpled with a shared grunt, both luck and Keith's reflexes keeping Lance from a sword injury. Shiro charged the robot, prosthetic arm flaring purple. Only to freeze when the Gladiator's gaze found him, the pilot's eyes somewhere far away.

"Oh," Ren breathed as Keith scrambled to block the blow meant for the Black Paladin. "Oh no."

Aileen peeked through her fingers just in time to see the Gladiator's staff knock Keith's Bayard away and smash the Red Paladin into the Black. At the glass of the observation window the Altean Princess tsk-ed, turning on her heel as the glow on the Gladiator dimmed. The two human women exchanged a glance before following her to the door.

"That simulation was set at a level fit for an Altean child," Allura snapped as she appeared on the training deck proper, glaring down at the fallen Paladins crumpled across the training room floor. Her words were sharp, disdain as clear as the ice in her tone. "You're nowhere near being able to work together. You can hardly be called a team."

Ren folded her arms across her chest, fingers tight around the fabric and jaw set as she watched the Princess pace.

"Oh, oh!" Aileen interrupted, sliding up to the Princess and holding up her hand as if this were a classroom lecture. "Can we try too?"

Allura paused, eyebrows knitting together as she glanced back to the deactivated Gladiator. "You want to... try?"

"Yes," the blonde nodded. "Ren and I. Right Ren?"

Aileen turned to face her cousin, bouncing slightly on her heels. She looked remarkably like a child faced with a trip to the candy store. The Princess shifted, turning her gaze to the brunette woman. There was something subtle in the Altean's eyes that seemed to insist the human disagree with her cousin.

Ren gave Allura half of a grin, the expression not nearly apologetic. "Actually, I'd love a chance to punch something."

"Yes!" Aileen whooped, pumping a fist.

"But you're injured!" Pidge interjected, pointing at Ren.

The former Tech Sergeant glanced down at her hand, still plastered with mismatched bandages from Earth. She shrugged, "This is a scrape."

"And you don't have any weapons." Hunk added, looking apprehensive. "We had weapons and we didn't do so well."

"It is a shame I didn't keep ahold of that Galra gun," Aileen frowned. "I don't even have a knife."

"See if Keith will let you borrow his," Ren offered, only to be met with an instant 'no' from the Red Paladin.

"Stingy," the blonde retorted, sticking her tongue out.

Ren laughed, unfastening her tool belt and handing it off to Hunk. "Hold that for me, Garrett."

"Oh," Hunk mumbled, momentarily distracted as he looked over the tool belt. "This is nice."

"Wait just a tick," Allura frowned, hands on her hips. "Nothing has been decided yet. The Paladin's are our priority. We must focus on-"

Coran stepped forward, lightly clapping the Princess on the back. "Now, now. There is nothing wrong with letting the two of them have a go. Combat training is a useful skill for everyone to have."

Ren nodded to her cousin, rolling her shoulders out as she spoke. "I have some more hand-to-hand than you do. Hang back for a bit, let me hit it and see what we're up against?"

"I want to hit it with it's stick," Aileen responded, enthusiastic at the idea.

The mechanic laughed. "It's good to have goals."

The Princess and the Paladins moved away, staying to the very outside edges of the room instead of the observation box with Coran. From the window the Advisor adjusted the microphone near his face and gave a thumbs up- a gesture he had picked up quickly despite the limited time around the humans.

"Take your positions and we're ready to begin."

Ren turned to face the Gladiator, one arm raised near her face and the other held lower, both fists closed. She shifted on her feet, attempting to find a balance between movement and a braced stance. Aileen stood more open, knees slightly bent and ready to move when the battle robot became active. Her fingers twitched at her hip even knowing she would find nothing there.

"Are you sure we can't give them a weapon?" Hunk asked, flinching prematurely.

"Begin!" Allura called, snapping her fingers.

The Gladiator rose to it's feet, lights glowing blue. It moved faster than expected. Ren sidestepped to avoid a downward blow from the staff only to be met with a momentum change, the weapon now swung like a baseball bat. The brunette dropped her arms, grabbing the staff in an attempt to block the blow. Her palms stung for the effort.

Ren licked her lips, adjusting her grip on the staff for a more secure hold. The Gladiator did the same. Instead of ripping the weapon from the woman's hold the robot pushed forward, using the staff like a jousting lance and forcing Ren backwards until she tripped.

When the staff began to pull upwards Ren released her grip, bracing herself on the ground with her hands, bending her body into a flat-topped 'n'. The mechanic pushed off the ground, using the momentum to return to her feet. The action took more effort than Ren would ever care to admit and she stumbled, off balance. Ren looked up just in time to see Aileen plow into the robot as if this were a football scrimmage.

To the blonde's credit the Gladiator was pushed back, it's staff clanging to the floor and rolling away. The Gladiator reached down, ripping the teenager away from it's side. Aileen was tossed away with mechanical ease, sending her tumbling across the training room floor. The Gladiator turned his attention to the brunette, staring menacingly with the one eye.

It came to meet her with fists ready. She turned, stepping closer to the robot as its punch blew past her. Ren brought her own arm up, swinging to meet the Gladiator dead center in the stomach. The hit did nothing. Cursing, Ren pulled her arm back to repeat the movement once, twice, in rapid succession before fingers closed around the back of her neck. The mechanic made a strangled noise of surprise, something caught between a gasp and a yelp, before she too was flung away. The whole training room spun and Ren hit the ground with her knees, hard.

Ren went to stand but her knees buckled, dropping her back to kneeling. The mechanic twisted herself around to face her cousin. "Lee!"

Aileen began moving at the same instance the Gladiator did, sneakers slapping against the training room floor. Ren linked her fingers together, holding her open palms near the floor. The blonde's sneaker found the makeshift brace, her hand on Ren's shoulder as the mechanic turned to heft her cousin at the robot. With the added leverage Aileen was able to meet the Gladiator as he approached, hitting it at the torso and shoulders with her full weight. Both girl and battle robot crumpled to the floor in a heap of limbs.

No one moved for several moments, the blonde on her back and one foot where the Gladiator's face would be. Aileen stuck an arm in the air, fingers closed into a fist. "Woo!"

Ren laughed, dropping herself back against the cool floor of the training room. The mechanic closed her eyes, taking several breaths to return her breathing to normal. Her injured hand pounded with the beat of her heart. "Damn, I'm still out of shape."

"Ser?" The brunette opened her eyes to find the Black Paladin standing over her, looking concerned. "You doing okay?"

"Wait, what?" Aileen interrupted as Pidge hefted her back onto her feet. "What did he call you?"

"Drop it," Ren responded, fighting the urge to roll her eyes. There was a dull thud followed by Aileen's quiet 'oof' and Ren lifted her head to look. Pidge's arms were out, expression neutral, and Aileen was back on the training room floor.

"Sorry," the corners of Pidge's mouth twitched, voice wavering with suppressed snickering. "But she did tell me to drop it."

The blonde blinked, slowly registering what had happened, then frowned and kicked the Green Paladin at the knees. Pidge shouted in indignation as Aileen grabbed the younger brunette, one arm about Pidge's shoulders and her hand in Pidge's hair- now even more of a mess than was usual.

"Well, that was almost impressive," the Princess sighed as the Paladin and the army brat wrestled.

Ren chuckled briefly, waving away the hand Shiro offered and pushed herself into a sitting position. "That's a pretty good summary of things, actually."

Dinner that night was more of the questionable green goo, now accompanied by squishy pink squares that looked to be a hybrid of pudding and cake. The Paladins filled one side of the table, several of them sinking heavily into their chairs. Ren and Aileen sat at the opposite side, near the middle of the table, the blonde poking at her plate of goo and Ren flexing her injured hand.

"You've gone and broken it," Aileen remarked as Coran explained the meal, smacking lightly at the goo with the back of her spoon. "Now you're a double cripple."

"Okay, one," the brunette frowned, no real hostility in her voice. "I can walk just fine now so I'm not a cripple, and two I have full range of motion in my hand so it's not broken. Punching that thing wasn't all that different than hitting the truck door."

The sounds of clanging, forks dropping, and joint sounds of confusion from the opposite side of the table drew Aileen's attention away from asking her cousin about punching car doors. The two looked up just in time to see the Paladins' wrists fastened to each other with some form of magnetic handcuffs. In one swift motion Aileen pushed herself back from the table and Ren was on her feet quick enough to knock her chair over.

"Are you shitting me?" the mechanic hissed, turning to face the Altean man. "Are you- You're not even going to let them eat?!"

"I saw a lot of solid individual performances," Coran explained to the room. "But you're still struggling to work as a team. So this will be the final bonding exercise of the day. You'll feed each other!"

Aileen stared, mouth agape as Lance struggled in her peripheral vision against the restraints. "He's way too happy about the food equivalent of Monopoly."

"That's not-" Ren sputtered, unable to find the proper words. She pinched the bridge of her nose as Allura entered the dining hall. "You can't just-"

"Feel free to begin eating everyone," the Princess said, daintily tucking herself into her seat at the head of the table. "There's one more round of flight drills before the sun sets."

The ordeal went about as well as could be expected. With no slack between the restraints it was a lot more difficult to synchronize movements. Fingers were bit, people were elbowed, spoons nearly went up noses. Twice Lance had complained about Keith intentionally groping his food. The second time Keith had responded by knocking Lance's plate over. The only thing stopping a fight from breaking out had been the handcuffs.

"Don't you Earthlings ever stop complaining?" Allura snipped, the constant clattering and bickering finally annoying her into speaking.

"Can't you just give us a break?" Shiro responded, speaking up negatively for the first time that day. "Everyone has been working very hard today."

"Yeah!" Keith was on his feet in an instant, sounding hostile. "We're not some prisoners you get to toy with like-" He faltered, stumbling to find the words to properly express his irritation.

"Like some toy prisoners!" Lance added, completely serious.

"You do not yell at the Princess!" Coran interjected, sounding offended.

"Oh, the Princess of what?" Pidge demanded, reminding Ren of one of the reasons she liked the kid so much. "We're the only people here and she's no Princess of ours!"

Green goo splattered across the bespectacled brunette's face, dripping thickly from hair and glasses frames. A moment of silence followed, everyone processing that it had been Allura that had assaulted Pidge with food. The resulting food fight was inevitable.

"It reminds me of home," Aileen responded idly as Keith tossed his whole plate at the Princess, only for it to be blocked with ease by Coran. "Except Luke was always kind enough to leave his handcuffs in the bedroom so we all didn't have to look at his kinks."

The Advisor returned fire with the ladle, splattering the entire row of Paladins with a practiced ease that wasn't likely acquired through food fights. Ren took several large steps back from the table, gently dragging her cousin along by the arm.

When the chaos finally subsided both Paladins and Alteans, the whole length of the dinner table, and several feel of ceiling were covered in goo. The only ones to avoid the mess had been Ren and Aileen, the two having enough sense to move away from the table as the fighting broke out. Though the blonde had very much wanted to slam a bowl of food over someone's head during the fray. In the sudden calm the group of Paladins looked at each other, each one of them splattered with lime green, and laughed- the first true bout of laughter since arriving on the Blue Lion.

"Enough!" The Princess' shout echoed across the room, startling everyone into silence. Confusion passed over the faces of the Paladins as Allura lifted her head and smiled bright enough to shame the sun. "Don't you see what you're doing? You're finally working together!"

"Hey," Lance grinned, elbowing Keith in a gesture that wasn't antagonistic. "I don't hate you right now."

"You guys thinking what I'm thinking?" Hunk asked, bouncing excitedly on the balls of his feet.

Shiro smiled broadly, with all the confidence and familiarity of his Garrison days. "Let's go form Voltron!"

"Oh, I meant dessert," Hunk admitted, though his own grin remained. "But yeah, let's do that!"

Once freed from the handcuffs, and a quick shake down to remove some of the goo, the Paladins hurried from the dining hall with renewed purpose. Lance slipped on some of the goo splattered across the floor in the scramble to the Lion Dens but managed not to fall, winking at the women before exiting the room.

"I love it when a plan comes together," Allura mused aloud, brushing her dress clean. "Coran, let's-"

"Sit. Down." the mechanic snarled with enough venom that Aileen was three steps from an empty chair before the blonde realized the words weren't directed towards her.

The Princess turned, eyebrows raised in quiet surprise. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," Ren responded, stepping closer. "I told you earlier that if I had something to say to you I'd say it. And, Bubblegum, I sure as sugar have some shit to say to you." Ren jabbed a finger in Allura's direction, movement sharp, and Coran took half a step between the two women. The brunette snorted, "That goes for you too, Mr. Peanut."

"You will not address the Princess in such a way." The Altean man straightened, as if to form a physical wall between his liege and the irate mechanic.

Ren scoffed, lip curling in distaste. "I will address her as she deserves and for what she pulled today, you're lucky all I'm doing is talking."

"For what-" Allura frowned, on her feet in an instant. "And just what is it you think I've done? Training the Paladins-"

"Then maybe you should actually train them!" Ren interrupted, words all teeth and anger. "What you've been doing today has been so far away from training that it's two steps away from torture."

The Altean woman looked as if she had just been slapped across the face, one hand flying to her collarbone and eyes wide. "Torture? Are you out of your mind?"

"No breaks," the former Tech Sergeant began, holding up a finger. As her list continued Ren held up an additional finger as a visual representation of her words. "In fact, no rest at all. Throwing untrained children- no, worse. Untrained children and a man clearly still suffering from combat related trauma- into repeated combat situations with no direction and expecting them to do well, providing no weapons training and expecting them to operate new weapons efficiently, inhibiting their ability to eat. Not to mention repeatedly yelling because that's how you teach someone. You yell at them. You don't get to handwave that away just because you lucked out and got the result you wanted."

"How dare you-"

"No, how dare you," Ren snapped. Her words tasted like the hot metal of her anger, too sharp to hold in. "You're supposed to be better than what you're fighting against."

"You know nothing of Zarkon." Allura's voice shook with barely suppressed emotion, fingers clutching tight around the collar of her dress. "You know nothing of what he's done."

The mechanic's eyes were cold, points of ice in the suddenly too hot dining hall. "I know what's in front of me. I know what I've seen, and all I've seen is self-proclaimed royalty do little more than trigger a severely traumatized and amnesiatic man into a panic attack, abuse children, and then yell at them when they didn't match your standards. I'm done pulling punches. I'm done playing nice. Try this shit again and I'll tear you down myself."

With one swift movement Ren reached through the gap above Coran's shoulder, patting the Princess on the cheek with an open palm and only a little more force than was needed. "You've got spunk, Bubblegum. Don't make me hate you."

Allura moved her face away moments before Ren pulled her hand back, a complicated array of emotions struggling to be expressed. As her hand moved away the human mechanic clapped her Altean counterpart on the ear as a reminder he, too, had been included in her rant.

The brunette woman turned on her heel, leaving the room with surprisingly light steps in the wake of her anger. Aileen closed the distance between her and her cousin with a few long strides, blonde hair a banner behind her. The younger girl spared the Alteans a single glance as she passed, mouth a thin line and face unreadable.

"Not that I disagree," Aileen began slowly as they moved through the castle halls. "But are you sure that was smart?"

"I don't care," Ren responded simply, searching the pouches on her tool belt. "It needed to be said."

Ren cursed under her breath, fumbling with a pouch before producing her flip lighter and cigarettes. She sighed softly, shoulders dropping slightly as she placed the cigarette between her lips and flicked the lighter into life. "Thank god."

As they stepped into the remaining sunlight outside the Castle of Lions the mechanic blew a puff of smoke and Aileen shook her head. "You know Pidge will try to take those from you."

"Try," the woman nodded, gesturing vaguely with her cigarette. "Being the key word."

Allura watched in silence from the doorway of the castle as the Paladins returned, the other two humans moving to greet them. "Was she right, Coran? Did I go too far?"

The man was silent for a moment, smoothing his mustache. In the distance Pidge hurried over to the older brunette. Ren laughed, carefully lifting a leg and pressing her boot squarely in the center of Pidge's armor, stopping the Green Paladin short. The arm holding her cigarette pack lifted above her head, further preventing Pidge from reaching them.

"I think, perhaps," Coran began. "That the two of you were focused on different aspects of the problem." At the Princess' silence he elaborated, "To us these people are new. Someone we've just met with no real attachments to. It is much easier to focus on the larger problem of forming Voltron and stopping Zarkon. For Miss Ren these are her people, ones she feels responsible for. It's only natural that she focuses first on their wellbeing."

The human mechanic's laughter turned to a yelp as Pidge began to literally climb her to reach the goal of the cigarette pack. Ren flailed, struggling to remain upright and not accidentally burn the Paladin with her lit cigarette. Her cousin was laughing to hard to help, her hand on Keith's shoulder as she struggled to breathe. Hunk hurried over as his former teacher threatened to topple over, taking ahold of Ren's shoulders as she attempted to shove Pidge off with her free hand.

It was a completely ridiculous scene but somehow so completely human. The Princess of a forgotten planet folded her arms across her chest, unable to shake the encroaching feeling of loneliness from her bones.


Hi guys! I had some free time while the baby slept, so update you get! Kado was a bit dazed to realized that she's been writing this fic for a year now. And you should all know that she is super appreciative of all the favs, follows and reviews you guys leave. Don't forget that you can find her on tumblr spacelionsrampant. Drop in and see if she's left any tidbits about up coming chapters or ask her any questions you might have. She loves to interact with her readers.