HEYA. I added a sketch of the kiss scene in chapter 12 if you want to go back and see it. I'll probably slowly be adding more fanart to this story, even after it's over. Ideally, I would have had it ready for each update, but I just don't have that kind of time! Or patience.
Sorry this took two whole weeks, but this is a SUPER LONG CHAPTER that really should be split in two...but it's not because you all deserve as much klance as possible after waiting for so long. (Seriously though, get a snack, get some water, go to bed if it's late. This chapter is a monster)
Thanks again for being so supportive. You guys are seriously the best. Like...I can't even express how happy it makes me to see all of your comments and kudos. I try to reply to each of you, but if any of your comments slip through the cracks, just know that I really appreciate you taking the time to read and say how you felt about it.
It had taken quite a bit of convincing on Lance's part to get Shiro to take them to Portux. Because yeah, there were a ton of unknown variables, and yeah, the planet wasn't exactly on the way.
"Do you have any idea where this…Lox…person might be?" Shiro asked as Black flew over the commercial district.
"No," Lance admitted, peering below them. The crumbling apartment complexes and dusty streets passing them by. "But she said she had family here. So she's somewhere. I'm assuming she lives outside the city."
Shiro said nothing, and Lance could tell he didn't like this plan. It was a delay.
Because in Shiro's mind, Lance was the solution to finding Keith. They just needed to get back to the Eridanus Cluster as soon as possible. But Lance knew they couldn't rely on his connection with Red. They needed a backup plan. And Lox—she was that contingency.
They flew past the city and the long stretch of desert, searching for buildings or anything resembling a residential community at all. But all they could see was desert.
"She might not even be here anymore," Shiro said skeptically. "After they took her prisoner, I don't think she'd go back to where she lived before. It wouldn't be safe."
Lance pursed his lips. "My guess is that they found her near the casino. Snatched her off the streets. If her family was still safe, then the cartel must not have found her home. And if she's not here…someone in her family has to be."
Lance could see the question in Shiro's eyes.
If the cartel didn't find her again, how were he and Shiro supposed to?
The desert broke off into a web of canyons and fissures like broken glass, the aerial view reminding Lance of the sub-baked clay in the Western United States. He could dimly recall Keith flying through this maze before. Like a maniac.
"Shiro…" he said, nodding to their right. One of the larger gorges held a snaking river in its valley.
And water always meant people.
They descended into the canyons, following the stretch of green river.
At first there was nothing but rocky cliffs and soil, but as they flew on, Lance spotted several small caves and alcoves hidden within the walls of the canyon, away from the dust storms and the heat—artificial homes holed out by intelligent creatures.
Lance scanned the honeycomb formations, recognizing tapestries and clothes hanging from the entrances of the caves, pots and pans sitting out on ledges to capture rainwater. The riverbank was peppered with tents and aqueducts.
They'd found a colony.
Just one colony among hundreds, Lance told himself. Don't get your hopes up.
"Set down in the valley," Lance advised. "People will file out when they see the lion."
"That's what I'm worried about," Shiro murmured.
They landed in the riparian habitat sandwiching the stream, and heads started popping out of the caverns at the sound of their arrival. Aliens of all different sizes and races began climbing down ladders and rope bridges to gather around Black—awed, confused, excited. They wore layers and head scarfs and robes, all pale brown and gray, just like the rocky terrain around them.
Lance's fingers twitched.
He didn't see any Invenians.
"Let's...see what they have to say," he said, trying to keep the panic out of his voice.
This detour had to be worth it.
Otherwise Lance had put off saving Keith several days more than necessary. And for all they knew, Keith could be several days from death. If something happened to him...that would fall on Lance.
Stop it.
Keith's fine.
He has to be fine.
They emerged from the lion, standing before the small crowd, searching faces. Blue materialized beside them, sniffing the air, the ground, looking for his person. The citizens around them whispered to one another, grinning.
"Paladins of Voltron?" an Arielian asked, red skin and yellow eyes stark against the dry landscape.
Shiro seemed a bit distracted, his eyes taking in each individual slowly, summing and subtracting their parts. Lance couldn't blame him for keeping his guard up—they were in a hidden canyon of a lawless land. If these people turned on them, no one would know to come save them. They'd vanish without so much as a whisper, just like Keith.
But Lance could see that these people were not their enemy. They were poor rural folk, probably outcasts and convicts seeking a better life away from the corruption in the city, far from the eyes of the universe.
They'd formed a tight-knit community here.
Lance could work with this.
He stepped forward, nodding. "Voltron. That's right! The name's Lance. I piloted the Red Lion. You probably remember me though," he flashed them a disarming smile—the smile he'd run their campaign on. "This over here is Shiro, the Black Paladin and leader of Voltron." Lance bowed. "Please forgive the intrusion."
That finally pulled Shiro's focus back to the conversation at hand, and he waved to the crowd in his diplomatic fashion.
"Paladins, it is an honor to meet you," an older Puigian said, opening his palms. "How can we help the great heroes of the universe? Do you seek accommodations for the night? Supplies?"
Lance exchanged looks with Shiro. The paladin gave a subtle nod—the green light.
"We're actually…looking for our friend," Lance put carefully. "We think she might live here. Her name's Lox?"
At the drop of her name, Lance watched several gazes dart to one another, a few faces tighten with surprise.
And suspicion.
Lance bit his cheek to keep the smile off his face. That was exactly the response he'd been hoping for.
The Puigian pressed his lips together, the blue stripes on his face contorting in discomfort. The alien wolf sniffing his boots didn't help any. "I…am afraid we do not know of any Lox. Perhaps you are mistaken?"
Lance kept his expression neutral—keeping up the innocuous decorum. "Maybe she goes by a different name now. Big pretty black eyes, about yea high?"
Lance held up his hand to the height he remembered, looking around for signs of recognition.
Their faces gave them away, but no one spoke up.
They were protecting her.
"We're not here to hurt her," Lance assured them, meeting each of their gazes, watching them soften with curiosity. "We just need to ask her some questions. A paladin's life is at stake."
The Puigian frowned, and Lance could tell he genuinely wanted to help them. But he wouldn't betray one of his own, and Lance couldn't hold that against him. "Unfortunately, we do not harbor the individual you—"
"It's alright, Trik."
The voice came from the rear of the crowd, eliciting several gasps. Lance swallowed nervously as the figure weaved through the bodies, pulling the hood back from her face.
Seawater skin. Eyes of black marble. A long braid tucked into her scarf and tunic.
Lox.
"Friends," she assured her nervous companions.
"Yes. Friends," Lance repeated, breathless.
She was here.
He'd found her.
She locked eyes with him. "Still alive."
Lance grinned at the surprise in her voice, realizing that she must have thought him dead all this time. "I'm hanging in there."
She hummed in amusement, and she glanced over at Shiro, then back at Lance. "What do you seek, Paladins?"
Lance wet his lips. "It's…Keith. You remember Keith, don't you?"
She dipped her chin. "Master Kogane."
"Right," Lance said, ignoring Shiro's puzzled frown. "Well, he's missing. He's been missing for months. And…and we've run out of options. When we heard what Invenians were capable of..."
She tilted her head, blinking once, black eyes unreadable. "Wish to track Master Kogane."
The aliens around them whispered among each other. Lance heard Keith and Red Paladin in concerned voices, words like impudent and gall laced with venom.
Lance understood their contempt.
Lox had likely immigrated here with her family to escape persecution. Disappeared into the hidden walls of Portux, lest she become a slave to the Galra, lest she be forced to pinpoint rebel bases.
And now Lance was here asking to use her gifts for his own selfish purposes, the very thing she'd run away from.
That...didn't look good.
"Yes," Lance admitted, and she stared at him, wearing a blank expression that made him nervous. "I know you require payment, and I'm willing to give you anything you want. I mean I don't…really own much, and you can't exactly have Keith, but I'll do whatever you—"
"No payment," she said, waving him off. She studied him for another beat, and then she nodded to herself, her mind made up. "You saved me. I save Master Kogane."
Lance felt his heart twist itself into a knot. Really?"
He'd had a whole speech worked out and everything. He'd been ready to beg on his knees. Sell his soul. Anything.
She nodded, smiling a little at his shock. "I go with, then?" She gestured to the Black Lion, unaware of the emotional punch she'd just delivered, the solace she'd just granted them.
Lance swallowed, grinning back at her incredulously. Shiro stood to the side, wide-eyed, his mouth parted, like he didn't know where to even begin in expressing his gratitude.
They'd just recruited one of the best trackers in the entire universe by...happenstance.
Who would have thought Keith's righteous intervention in the trafficking incident would have led them here? The bastard's impulsiveness had saved his own life.
"Yes," Lance managed finally. "We'll be gone for a couple weeks. Is that okay?"
She shrugged. "No trouble. We leave today, yes?"
Lance laughed at her candor, an overwhelming sense of relief pushing out against his chest. "Yeah, if that's alright. As soon as you're ready."
She nodded again, and the crowd began to dissipate, parting in twos and threes to gossip over the Invenian recruitment. The paladins were left alone with Lox in the center of camp, Blue pacing back and forth, miffed at being duped again.
Lance couldn't even contain his joy. He beamed at Shiro, who still looked a little off balance, like he wasn't sure this was real.
They were one step closer to finding Keith. One step closer to bringing the team back together.
"One condition," Lox said, frowning at them, "I need...token."
"Token?"
"To find lost item, I need piece first," she explained, struggling to find the right words. "Have a piece of Master Kogane with you? Token? Belonging?"
Oh.
Shiro cursed beside them—something Lance wasn't sure he'd ever witnessed before. But he understood Shiro's distress.
Keith owned a total of maybe three things, and those three things he kept on his person at all times.
…All but one.
Lance gripped Shiro's arm, squeezing reassuringly. "Actually, I do."
OoO
In the cockpit, Lox held Keith's old jacket in her small hands, her dark eyes shut to the world, lashes fluttering as she concentrated.
Lance shifted from foot to foot. Was it working?
What was happening?
Could she see Keith?
Fuck. He was going to have a heart attack.
Shiro stilled him with his hand, glancing at him like a parent would a young, hyperactive child. Lance held his breath, hoping he might just pass out from the lack of oxygen.
He couldn't take this.
What if she…what if she couldn't find him?
What if Keith was gone?
No.
No—Keith wouldn't die quietly, without a witness. If that idiot ever died, he would go out doing something memorable, something legendary. And Lance would be right there beside him.
Lox finally opened her eyes, and she looked up at them, tilting her head to the side, face blank. Lance didn't like it when she did that.
"He's outside mapped universe."
"Outside?" Lance repeated. What next level shit had Keith gotten himself into?
Shiro's grip tightened on his shoulder. "Does that mean you know where he is?"
She handed the jacket back to Lance, her dark brows pinched together. "I have trajectory. When closer, exact coordinates."
Exact.
Now that was a beautiful word.
Lance swallowed. "Can you…can you tell if he's alive?"
Her solid black eyes lifted with sympathy, and she shook her head. "Only trace body. Not consciousness. Apologies."
"That's okay, don't be sorry," Lance said gently, trying to keep his emotions in check. "You're already helping us so much, Lox. I don't think you realize just how much."
The Invenian had located Keith, and that meant Lance was going to see him again, one way or another.
And...Lance suddenly realized he was far from ready.
"Lance is right. I've been looking for Keith a long time, but this…this is the first time I've felt real hope," Shiro confessed. "Thank you, Lox."
She smiled at him. "Master Kogane loved by many, yes?"
Lance and Shiro shared a grin. "Yeah. He is."
"Then happy to help."
Shiro released an amused breath, and he nodded. "Alright then, Lox. Let's set our course."
OoO
Lox had been fascinated by Black, and she asked Shiro a list of questions about the control panel and the lion's power source. To save Shiro from having to explain the novelty of quintessence, Lance had jumped in. He asked Lox about her time on Portux, and if she'd ever found her family.
Her face softened. "Very happy to see me," she'd said, recollecting her return to the caves. "My sisters."
"Is it just you and your sisters then?"
She nodded, sitting down next to him. "Last Invenians."
Lance readied his reply, but he froze as the meaning of the words hit him. Wait.
"You mean…you're the only Invenians left? In the universe?"
"Yes?" She looked puzzled. "Did not know?"
Lance shook his head, blinking rapidly. "I thought…I heard that your people just disappeared during the war. Went into hiding."
"They did," she said, her black eyes darkening even more, impossibly. "But one Invenian…traitor. Loyal to Galra. Sold out other Invenian. Hunted us down."
Lance's gut turned over. "But…didn't the Galra want your people as slaves? Why would they exterminate you?"
"Knew Galra were losing war," she said simply. "Wanted to destroy weapon before weapon destroyed Galra…"
Lance hated how accepting she was of it. As if it were normal for entire races to be wiped out, written out of history. For families to be torn apart. Like this was just the way things had always been.
And...and yet it had for her, hadn't it? Zarkon's reign of terror had gone on for thousands of years.
Lance had never thought much about the aftermath of the war. He'd figured Voltron would win, and the planets would be free from the Galra, and everything would go back to how it'd been.
But it was clear to him now that war had left deep scars across every galaxy. No life had been untouched.
And victory alone wouldn't heal those wounds.
"Lox, I'm so sorry."
She looked at him curiously. "Why sorry?"
Lance opened his mouth, and he closed it again. "I guess...I just feel like Voltron should have stopped that from happening to your people."
She placed her hand on his arm, and Lance was startled by how cold her skin was. "Can't fix past," she said. "Past is tool. Tool to fix future." She tilted her head at the other end of the cockpit, where stars flew past them in streaks of white. "Eyes forward, yes?"
Lance felt the edges of his mouth pull up. "Right. Eyes forward."
When Lox had retired to her tent for the night, Lance brought out the bottle of whiskey Marco had smuggled into his bag, and Shiro put his face in his hand.
"Lance, no."
"Lance, yes."
"Why did you even bring that? Do you know what alcohol does to your blood in sp—"
Lance had already popped off the lid and took a swig, staring Shiro dead in the eye as he did so. He smacked his lips. "Come on, Shiro. If you keep thinking about Keith and Adam your brain is going to explode. Just…take a break with me."
Shiro rolled his eyes, but he didn't protest as Lance joined him next to the campfire. And, to Lance's surprise, Shiro accepted the bottle when Lance pushed it into his chest.
The paladin took a shot, wincing a little at the burn. Lance smiled.
They sat in the glow and heat of the flames, a comfortable silence filling the night. Lance had missed this. The roadtrips. The adventures.
Shiro.
His friends.
He couldn't wait to see everyone again. Pidge and her unimpressed faces, Hunk and his restaurant, Coran's outrageous verbiage and personality. Romelle's improper use of the English language. Krolia's cheekiness.
And Allura.
Because Lance had come to realize he'd loved Allura, but only half of her. When he'd tried to think of her flaws, he couldn't. She was perfect in his eyes. She probably always would be. And that had said everything.
You couldn't truly love someone until you'd seen all of them. Their best traits and their ugliest.
So he was excited to see her again, to see how their relationship could develop now that Lance knew what he wanted. He had a feeling they could become something stronger now.
Now, the two of them, with their combined hope and passion, could become something Voltron desperately needed.
"I should have convinced you to come with us last year," Shiro said suddenly, and Lance glanced at him in surprise.
"What are you talking about?"
Shiro sighed. "I just...I could tell you wanted to stay in Cuba, and I didn't want to make things harder on you. But I should have still tried. I should have told you how much you meant to us, how important you were. I should have made that clear to you over the course of our time in space. I'm sorry, Lance."
Lance rolled his eyes. "Shiro, stop. You have nothing to be sorry for. You're exactly right—it would have made things so much harder. I needed that time on the ground. I'm glad you let me go," he said, and he meant it. He felt…stronger now, almost like Earth had given him a second wind, a lighter heart, a clearer mind. "And besides, it's not like you needed me around. You all wiped out the enemy just fine on your own."
Shiro looked like he wanted to protest, but Lance didn't want to hear it. He'd heard Shiro's sentiments before, and they hadn't made a difference. They both knew Lance wasn't vital to the team. And that was okay.
It was a relief that they'd been able to defeat the Galra without him.
"I have a question," Lance said, hoping to draw the topic away from his past. "Why did Keith go by himself all the way to the third quadrant? Why didn't the two of you go together to deal with the threat? Doesn't seem like you to let him do that alone."
Shiro swallowed another gulp of the whiskey, letting it settle for a few seconds before he answered. "We'd…gotten into a fight. He didn't want me around. Took off before I could stop him."
Lance raised his brows. Keith and Shiro never fought. Never over anything big. They were always mutually supportive. "What kind of fight?"
Shiro took a few moments to think up his response, which only intrigued Lance further. "Black and I were having…communication issues," Shiro began, running his thumb over the glass surface of the bottle, back and forth. "He was impatient. He wasn't listening the way he used to. I realized he must have wanted Keith back, that he was unsatisfied with the new team dynamic. I also think he could tell I wanted to go back home and figure things out with Adam…that I wasn't the same levelheaded leader I'd once been. Regardless, my disconnect with the team was causing problems, especially when trying to form Voltron." He breathed out. "So I tried to get Keith to step up as the leader, to take up the mantle as the Black Paladin. Of course, he refused. He was worried that if I stepped down, I would leave the team, and that if he stepped up, we'd be short a Red Paladin." His eyes lifted to Lance. "We thought…we thought the lions might be telling us to get you back."
Lance gaped. "Me?"
Why would the lions have wanted Lance back when they had Shiro?
That just didn't make any sense.
"Lance…I don't think you realize it, but without you...this team fell apart," Shiro said, his eyes deep and sincere. "I wasn't enough to keep everyone together, especially once we'd defeated the Galra. We just weren't the same without you. Something was missing."
"We both know that's not true," Lance dismissed quickly, feeling his throat start to close up. He looked away from Shiro's piercing gaze. "The team still would have fallen apart if I was there. I'm sure of it."
"I don't think that's true," Shiro insisted. "I know you don't think you were essential to Voltron, to saving the universe, and…maybe you weren't. But you were essential to our team, Lance. To our group dynamic, our friendship. The lions knew it, and so did we."
"I…" Lance swallowed. Had his absence truly affected the team that much? Half of the time he'd felt invisible. "I didn't think you guys…needed me."
Shiro shook his head, smiling. "Honestly, Lance? I don't think any of us knew just how much we needed you. Except maybe Keith," he reflected, and Lance felt his heart clench around the echo of the boy's name. "But suddenly you were gone, and there was no one around to break the ice on a bad day. There was no one to look at things from an upside-down angle. Things were just a lot more...intense without you."
Lance must have looked skeptical, because Shiro pressed on.
"Pidge was…less Pidge. She didn't have anyone to tease, and she missed you a lot, but she internalized it. When she shut down, Hunk had no one to bounce ideas off of. So he started to recede too, leaving to visit Shay more often. Allura and I became too entrenched in the battle. We didn't have any distractions," Shiro joked, and Lance tried to laugh, but his chest hurt too much. "With all of us off doing our own things, Coran and Romelle were left isolated. So they began planning the trip to the Altean planet. And Keith…"
Lance watched Shiro's expression adopt something like frustration.
"Keith was the most affected, and I think he shifted the balance the most. In a lot of ways, it felt as if he were still with the Blade. We hardly saw him. And when we did, he was all business. Closed off."
Lance knew how Keith behaved when he was upset, so the distance wasn't surprising. The fact that Lance had been the catalyst was.
Had he really been responsible for the team going their separate ways? He'd really been the glue keeping everyone together?
He'd never thought he'd be the undoing of Voltron. Not like this.
"Shiro, I'm sorry," Lance said earnestly. "I didn't realize my leaving would tear the team apart."
If anything, he'd thought it would benefit the team. If Lance had left with them for space, he would have been unhappy again, homesick, and his misery would have led to a plethora of problems. Especially if he'd gone without a lion— he'd felt useless enough already with Red. Without any way to contribute, he'd have just brought the rest of the team down.
He'd thought he'd been doing everyone a favor.
Shiro placed his hand on Lance's shoulder. "It wasn't your fault, Lance. It was mine. And I'm not telling you this because I want you to feel guilty. I'm telling you this because I want you to understand how important you are. That you weren't just a substitute. Okay?"
Lance nodded numbly, and he took a long, scorching sip of the bourbon.
Important, huh?
He hiccuped, blinking into the bright flames of the fire. "So…what happened when you realized the lions might have wanted me to come back? Why did Keith run away?"
Shiro stole the bottle back, but Lance had a feeling it was more cautionary than greedy. "We knew you didn't want to pilot Red anymore…that you weren't coming back, so we were having a bit of a crisis trying to figure out what to do next," he admitted. "Pidge suggested we go recruit a new Red Paladin, since the lion wouldn't accept me as Keith's replacement. And Keith sort of went…berserk. He didn't want to lead. He didn't want me to step down. He really didn't want a new Red Paladin. His anger threw the rest of the team into an upheaval. It was Hunk who finally asked the big question—did we even really need Voltron anymore?"
Lance could imagine the scene unfolding before him—everyone talking over each other only for Hunk's gentle reasoning to push through the noise. Causing everyone to fall silent in shock.
"That was the turning point. The doubts started to fester, and no one really…no one wanted to stick together. We didn't have a goal anymore. So everyone was pulled in different directions. And I didn't do anything, Lance."
"Shiro, I'm sure you tried your best."
Shiro shook his head. "But…I didn't. I agreed with Hunk. There was no reason for us to travel around together in space, looking for trouble. The universe was free again. So were we. And in my mind, I kept thinking that this time around, I could finally go back to Earth…and I could be with Adam. I let us fall apart. I failed the team, Lance."
Lance waved his arms back and forth dramatically, turning to face Shiro fully. "Stop it, man. Seriously. You're the best leader I've ever met, probably the best the universe has ever had! You were meant for this job. We never would have survived without you." Lance gazed at his friend, lifting his shoulder. "It's okay to be tired. You did so much for us. It's okay to want to move on with your life. You're practically an old man, anyway."
Shiro chuckled, softening at Lance's praise. "Thanks, Lance...I guess." Lance grinned. "Unfortunately...Keith didn't feel that way. After Voltron broke up, he was angry with me for trying to force my position on him. I wasn't going to leave him alone up in space, but he knew part of me wanted to. And he started to pull away again. You know how he is."
Lance nodded, his eyes dipping to the ground. "I know."
"The last time we talked was right before he left for the Eridanus Cluster. I told him to be careful. And he said…he said if anything happened to him, at least he'd be off my hands. At least I could go live my life the way I wanted, without some kid to look after. He took off before I could stop him."
Lance's heart ached for Shiro. Part of him wanted to assure him that Keith was just upset, that he didn't really mean those things. But...sometimes humor was the best comfort.
Lance scoffed, rolling his eyes. "God. Keith's one dramatic hoe, isn't he?"
Shiro barked out a laugh, taking a final swig of alcohol. "He does have a flare for dramatic exits."
They sat there for a few moments, stomachs warm, minds fuzzy. Lance was glad he'd come. Not just for Keith's sake, but for Shiro's. He'd needed a friend up here to help him through this. Lance was glad to be that person.
"So…when we get him back...what will you do?" Lance asked quietly, his lips and tongue clinging to his words.
Shiro set the bottle down between them, near-empty. "I guess it depends. What will you do, Lance?"
OoO
"You're sure he's there?" Shiro asked, inching closer to the dusty red planet.
"Positive," Lox assured him.
Lance couldn't even watch. He was going to be sick from all this anxiety.
He'd been doing just fine these last two weeks. But...but now it was real. It was happening.
He busied himself by suiting up in the space gear Shiro had purchased. It was mostly recycled Coalition gear, along with a few stolen Galra accessories. In other words, none of it matched, none of it fit him right, and it was totally not flattering.
Lance adjusted the breastplate over his chest and stretched his fingers in the dark purple gloves, looking at himself in the reflection of Black's sheet metal. His snug helmet made his hair stick to the sides of his face. The laser gun on his hip was pathetically small and unimpressive.
He looked ridiculous.
"Lance, stop ogling at yourself. We're pulling up our target."
Lance huffed. "I am not—"
Whatever.
So he was concerned about his appearance, okay? This was the first time Keith was going to see him in years. He just...he didn't want to look stupid.
Lance moved to stand beside Lox, and Shiro brought up an aerial image of the location the Invenian had pinpointed. He zoomed in closer, and Lance's eyes widened at the pixelated shapes filling the screen.
On a stretch of red sand were thousands of fighter jets and warships.
Galra ships.
A whole fleet of empty vessels just sitting here on an unknown planet at the edge of the universe.
Lance's gut plummeted. "I thought you'd taken out—"
"We did," Shiro said hoarsely, staring at the field intensely. "This shouldn't be here. We disarmed every battalion. We were thorough."
Lance watched the robotic sentries roam the dunes, standing guard over the fleet. "Looks like one general slipped through your fingers. A general with a lot of resources."
Lox leaned over Shiro and moved the screen to the right, revealing a chain of small buildings and warehouses. She double clicked on the largest building, and the camera zoomed in. Dozens of guards lined the entrance.
"Here," she breathed, confident. "Your king is here."
Lance swallowed. Keith was here?
He'd been held prisoner by Galra all this time?
Lance hadn't known what to expect, but it wasn't this.
Shiro was stock still, staring at the building in disbelief. In horror and pain and guilt.
Lance could see his leader already spiraling down that slippery slope of undeserving self-blame.
In Shiro's mind, he'd allowed Voltron to dissolve. He and the Blade had declared the war over. But the threat hadn't been eradicated, and this blindspot had led to Keith's disappearance and...and possibly, to his death.
If Keith was alive, Shiro knew better than anyone what being a Galran captive entailed. And perhaps Keith was not much better off.
With a rigid silence, Shiro gripped the stick and pushed Black onward, down to the surface.
"Plan?" Lox asked curiously.
Lance tore his gaze from the Black Paladin to Lox and her dark, reflective eyes. "You and Shiro stay in the lion. Blue and I go in and get Keith and teleport back here before anyone notices."
She cocked her head. "Just you two?"
"We don't know if Red is here or not. If he's not, that means we need to make a quick getaway, so Black has to be ready to take off at any moment," he explained. He'd hesitated to tell Shiro about his failure to connect with the lion for days—he hadn't wanted to upset him, to deepen the lines in his brow. But it had soon become evident that Lance could not track Red. He couldn't even remotely sense him. Without Lox, they never would have made it this far. "If I'm not out in ten, Shiro will create a diversion and draw out the guards."
"Diversion?"
"Basically, he'll start blasting things apart to distract the sentries while I find Keith."
Shiro wore a grim expression as he guided Black to the ground, just out of sight of the military base. "Lance, we weren't expecting Galra. The stakes are much higher now."
Lance shrugged. "I was expecting evil alien pirates or a giant space monster or something. Fighting the Galra is easy. We've done this plenty of times."
"You haven't even shot a gun in three years. Going in alone could get you killed."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Shiro. Really uplifting."
Shiro didn't crack. He was a ball of tension. "Lance, maybe we should come up with a better strategy, send for backup. We don't know how many sentries there are. We could be running straight into a trap."
Lance shook his head. "Normally I'd agree with you on this, Shiro. But we can't wait anymore. This is Keith we're talking about."
"That's exactly why we need to think this through."
Shiro folded his arms over his chest, unyielding, and Lox glanced between them nervously.
Lance sighed, meeting Shiro's dark, determined eyes. "Shiro, I need you to trust me. I'm going to get Keith out of there. I'm going to bring him back. I can do this."
Lance didn't think Shiro was going to budge, but then he closed his eyes, releasing a defeated breath. "...I don't like this."
"Me neither. But this might be our only chance to save Keith."
Shiro nodded slowly. "Okay. Just...be careful."
Lance dipped his chin. "You too."
Lance turned to Blue, who paced back and forth, whining. "Do you smell him, boy? Can you take me to him?"
The wolf's nose twitched, and he wagged his tail. Impatient.
"Lance. We don't have a way to communicate," Shiro reminded him. "If something goes wrong, get out of there, Keith or no Keith, understood?"
Lance crouched beside Blue, his palms tingling. "I'm getting Keith."
"Lance—"
"See you in ten."
He gripped Blue's mane, and the world around him vanished.
OoO
The flash of light faded, and Lance opened his eyes to a solid metal door. It glowed crimson from the red light trimming the ceiling. There were no handles.
To his left and right were blank walls of a similar style.
The architecture of a Galra prison.
Blue instantly darted through Lance's legs to the back of the cell, and Lance turned slowly, holding his breath.
His gaze fell on the figure in the corner, and his heart fell through his chest.
The young man sat in his black under-armor, wrists chained above his head to the metal of his cell, head stooped.
His pallor was gray like a corpse, exposed skin covered in dried blood. His hair was shorter than Lance remembered—as if it had been hacked off six months ago and was only now beginning to hug his ears and the back of his neck again. His bangs fell over his forehead, but they didn't quite reach his eyes.
His mullet was gone.
.
Keith.
.
He was here.
He was frail and broken and Lance…fuck, Lance couldn't even tell if he was breathing.
Blue whined, sniffing Keith's knee, nudging him with his wet nose, but Keith didn't stir.
The beast looked to Lance, helpless and confused, ears flat against his head, and Lance remembered his motor functions. He moved mechanically, kneeling at his friend's side, touching his leg. He was cold.
Lance tore off his helmet so his shaky breaths stopped fogging up the glass. "Keith…?"
Nothing.
Nothing.
Panicking, Lance quickly zapped the chains with his gun, and Keith's hands fell to his lap, his whole body slumping over like a puppet without strings.
Lance caught Keith's limp form in his arms, feeling the cold pain tear at his throat. The dread.
"Keith..."
Silence.
No, no, no, no…
Lance gripped at the pale boy, staring down at his closed eyes, the blood caking the left half of his face. He shook him, desperate.
"Keith."
This wasn't fair.
They'd come so far…
Lance still had so much to tell him...
Blue licked Keith's cheek, wagging his tail, burrowing his nose against him, and finally— finally —a muscle twitched in Keith's face.
It sucked all the air out of Lance's lungs, and he almost dropped the paladin in shock.
Keith breathed out, weakly swatting at Blue.
Lance tried to speak, but he couldn't. He was about ten seconds away from bursting into tears.
Keith exhaled again, pushing an ecstatic Blue away more firmly, and his eyes slowly opened, revealing the softest shades of violet Lance had ever seen. He focused on Lance, and his brow furrowed in confusion. "…Lance?"
Lance released a choked sob. "Hey, buddy."
Keith's eyes wandered, taking in his surroundings. "Are we dead?"
"I fucking hope not," Lance breathed. He placed his hand on Keith's cool cheek and wiped away at the blood, attempting to convey that this was real, that Lance was tangible. "You're alive, Keith. And we're getting you out of here."
Keith gazed up at him, his eyelids heavy, his lips chapped. He was weak, barely clinging to consciousness, and Lance suspected Keith still thought he was dreaming.
"You look…older." Keith squinted, tilting his head slightly. "Did you...pierce your ears?"
The tears gathered in Lance's eyes, and he beamed. "Sexy, huh?"
"...Kind of gay..."
Lance snorted, clutching tight to the paladin. "Just a bit."
Keith's mouth curved upward, and he closed his eyes.
It was so...soft.
So soft and heartbreaking and tragic and fuck, Lance wanted to pull him in close and hug him for hours. But they didn't have time for that.
Shiro was counting on him to get Keith out of here. And Keith...Keith was going to be no help at all. He was completely out of it.
Lance wondered how long it'd been since he'd been given food and water. It looked like he'd been abandoned here, left to die with an army of droids.
"Okay, Keith. Blue's gonna take us out of here." Lance draped Keith's arm over his shoulder and rose to a crouch, murmuring a soft, "Easy." Keith leaned into him entirely, resting his forehead in the nook of Lance's neck.
Swallowing, Lance wrapped his arm around Keith's slim waist, finding reassurance in Keith's shallow breath against his collarbone.
Lance had to take a moment to compose himself.
Keith was alive.
He was okay. He was making jokes. He was breathing.
This was really happening.
They were taking Keith home.
"I didn't tell him," Keith murmured into his skin, half-conscious. "I didn't tell him anything."
Lance felt his stomach drop, his suspicions confirmed.
Keith hadn't just been a prisoner here. He'd been tortured.
"Who?" Lance asked, trying to keep the edge out of his voice, his anger. "Who did this to you, Keith?" Which fucker did Lance need to kill?
A tired exhale. "...Lotor."
.
...What?
.
Lance's incredulous gaze swept over Keith again. "Lotor's alive?" Lance's eyes widened. "Is he here?"
"No," Keith said, lashes fluttering as he struggled to stay awake. "He left six days ago. He's…gone mad. Absorbed too much quintessence. He's going after Earth." Keith gripped at Lance's space suit tightly, words rushing out of his mouth like he was afraid he might not get the chance to say it all. "He wants to sap Earth's quintessence, Lance. He…he wanted to know about the Garrison's defense….our weapons. And he kept me here because without Red…"
"Without Red there's no Voltron," Lance answered numbly.
Lotor had tortured Keith.
Lotor. Who they'd long presumed dead. Who they'd trusted once upon a time.
The deranged prince had tried to pry answers out of the one person who would never break, even if it killed him.
"Wait," Lance blinked back his tears, "are you saying that Red's here? In this complex?"
Keith nodded tiredly. "He's battery dead. Chained up. Lotor drained his energy."
Shit.
That complicated things.
"Alright. Okay." Lance bit his cheek, formulating a plan. "Keith, take Blue back to Shiro. He's waiting in Black just over the hill. I'll go look for Red."
He tried to untangle himself from Keith, but Keith gripped tight to his armor, refusing. "Then what?" Keith murmured. "Leave you by yourself? With no way out?"
Lance rolled his eyes. Even when he was a delirious sack of bones Keith was still contentious. "Red's my way out, dummy."
"He's out of power, Lance. I can't even...feel him."
That made Lance pause. "What do you mean you can't f—"
Above them, the ceiling ruptured, the metal shrieking as a wall of fire came down around them. Lance didn't have time to think. He tackled Keith and Blue to the ground, shielding them from the debris.
Blue instantly teleported them to the corridor outside the decimated cell, and when the dust settled, Lance turned to stare at the remains of the smoking fighter jet, its nose lodged through the roof of the prison.
It had crashed just inches from where they'd been sitting.
Lance's gaze shot to the hole in the ceiling and the pale sky above them.
Shiro.
Galra ships swarmed the Black Lion, chasing its tail as the lion zipped away, destroying the fleet of fighter jets below him. Robot sentries on the ground scattered for cover, shooting up at the lion with their pathetic guns.
Lance had surpassed his ten minute mark.
"Did...Shiro just try to kill us?" Keith muttered.
"He's just buying us time."
Lance helped Keith off the floor, and Keith slumped onto him heavily, not an ounce of strength left in his body.
With Shiro in fighter pilot mode, Lance figured Keith was safer on the ground with him. Which meant the two of them needed to find their lion before Shiro was overwhelmed.
"Alright Red," Lance whispered, focusing on the lion's distant aura, closing his eyes. "It's been a long time. But we both need you now, more than ever. Wake up, buddy. Please."
He tried to sense his lion's pulse, to rediscover that bond between them. But the line was as dead as ever.
"Dammit."
Keith tugged on his armor, exasperated. "He's not awake, Lance. He can't come to us. We have to go to him."
Lance finally caught on, stitching together Keith's revelations. "That's...that's why I haven't been able to sense him? Because his quintessence is gone?"
Keith nodded, and Lance released a loaded breath.
The problem was on the receiving end then, not on Lance.
That shouldn't have made him feel better.
But it did.
"Alright, Blue," Lance decided, explosions sounding off in the distance. "Let's go for a scavenger hunt."
OoO
It took several attempts.
The first place they'd teleported had about two dozen droids in the room. Gaping, Lance had gotten them right the fuck out of there.
They checked every warehouse, every room, but Red was nowhere to be found. Keith was growing heavy against Lance's side, his arm slipping from Lance's neck as he faded.
On the sixth attempt, Blue brought them to a large garage. It was open at one end, red dust billowing across the entrance, and it reminded Lance of the hangars back at the Garrison.
Except for the giant fucking robot in the middle of the facility.
Lance stared, heartbroken.
Red...
The lion lay before them, shackled and bound in heavy metal ribbons.
Eyes dark to the world.
Lance felt bile in his throat, and his chest churned with anger. Red didn't belong in chains. He was a wild, tameless spirit. Fiery and speedy. This confinement, this lifelessness...it was a juxtaposition Lance had seen too much of today.
He was going to slice Lotor and his long, shiny hair to pieces.
Two guards emerged from the back of the room, and Lance snatched his laser gun out of its holster and blasted the droids before they'd even raised their weapons, seething.
Keith suddenly crumpled beside him, and Lance caught him around the waist, guiding him to the foot of the lion and setting him down against Red's shackled paw. The paladin murmured an apology, half-gone.
They needed to hurry.
Lance swallowed, turning his attention back to his lion. "Hey, Red...it's me..."
He stepped closer, running his hand over the lion's muzzle. Closing his eyes.
How could he rescue a robot that wasn't... charged?
He didn't have any quintessence to offer.
...Did he?
"Red," he pleaded. "I know you're in there. You've got to wake up."
Lance could hear the Black Lion wreaking havoc outside the hangar. Energy blasts and explosive impacts. The pow pow of the Galra ships. Blue paced behind him, whining nervously. He must have heard sentries approaching.
Lance tuned it all out, running his hand over the cool metal. "Red...I'm sorry for leaving. I'm sorry I let this happen to you. I should have been there. But I'm here now."
Lance knew that Red's power core was depleted.
But he also knew his lion was so much more than a machine. Even when his battery was dead, there was something there. Something sentient. Lance was sure of that now.
"Red, please," Lance begged, opening his teary eyes and staring into the hollow headlights above him. "We'll talk this over later. I'll do a full maintenance check and everything. I'll clean out the cockpit. I'll polish and wax your coat—you'll be sparkling for days, okay? Alright? For now, please just wake up. I need you to wake up. I need you."
At first there was nothing, just the same cold absence.
But then Lance felt it.
The thrum of a motor.
Beneath the pads of his gloved fingers, he felt an engine stir. He felt the metal warm, vibrating like the hood of a car.
Lance stared, an incredulous grin pulling at his lips.
Then Blue growled viciously, and Lance whirled around.
A crowd of sentries were running straight for the open end of the hangar, guns in hand.
Shit.
Lance wasn't sure what their orders were, but he had a feeling securing the Red Lion was their first priority. Lotor wanted to keep Red out of Voltron's hands at all costs.
Lance squared up, placing himself in front of Keith, in front of his lion. Blue's hair rose in bristles beside him, the beast ready to pounce on their enemies. Steadying his breath, Lance raised his gun, closing one eye.
He wouldn't be able to take down a whole squad on his own.
But he'd sure as hell die trying.
He pulled the trigger, and the closest sentry fell to the ground.
Two.
Three down.
Blue vanished and reappeared at the front lines, ripping into the droids, clawing through wires, teeth sinking into hardware, vanishing before the bots could even touch him.
Four.
Five.
Lance didn't miss a single shot, but he struggled to keep up. For every droid he shot down, another took its place, running full speed ahead.
It wasn't enough. The gun wasn't enough.
They'd be overtaken.
Lance spared a panicked glance at Keith. He lay on his side, eyes closed, hands clenched. Behind him, a lion of stone.
The sight of them together hit Lance with sudden clarity.
Keith.
The Red Paladin.
Shit. Of course.
It had to be here. Locked away somewhere in the complex.
Lance crouched in front of Keith, activating his gauntlet's energy shield as several laser blasts shot past his head. He tossed his gun aside, closing his eyes.
Come on, come on, come on...
Where are you?
His shield shuddered against the onslaught of firepower, his heels slipping on the concrete.
And then he saw the flash of red light through his eyelids.
And he felt it.
The perfect weight in his hand. A familiar grip in his palm.
Lance stared down at the Red Bayard in his hand, the red aura fading around it.
He'd...
He'd summoned his bayard.
He was so going to brag about this later.
A laser beam seared past him, grazing his cheek, and Lance's eyes snapped back to the droids and the matter at hand.
He flicked his wrist, and the bayard instantly converted into his energy blaster, as if it recognized Lance and the peril he was in. As if it knew Lance wouldn't have it any other way.
"Hell yeah," Lance laughed, aiming for the sentries. Pulling the trigger and tearing them to pieces.
The soldiers stopped short, rearing back at the rate of their annihilation.
Lance grinned at the adrenaline flooding his veins, turning him into the person he'd missed these last three years. The hero. The sharpshooter. The paladin.
The droids abandoned their advance, raising their own weapons to fight back collectively. To concentrate their energy blasts on Lance and Keith.
Oh.
Fuck.
Just as lance erected his shield again, bracing for imminent death, he heard a low, guttural roar.
The roar of an angry lion.
The firepower that would have vaporized his shield and then Lance himself was immediately deflected by the glowing tip of a lion's tail, hovering in front of Lance's face.
Lance turned around with a shit-eating grin on his face.
Red's eyes glowed a murderous yellow, and he strained against the metal belts, buckling the concrete beneath Lance's feet. The droids stepped back cautiously, watching the lion's joints steam as Red cranked his thrusters.
Red was taking off.
Lance lunged for Keith and dragged him out of the way just as the lion broke through its confines, shooting bots and shrapnel in every direction.
Lance pumped his fist in the air. "Yes!"
The lion roared again, shaking his head as if he were ridding itself of phantom chains. He twisted his head, cracking joints, stretching muscles.
Then without warning, he flicked his tail around and knocked the sentries out like bowling pins. Seemingly satisfied, Red bent low and opened his mouth for the paladins to ascend the ramp.
"Red, you're one fine piece of ass. You know that?"
Lance felt Keith's choked laughter against his shoulder as he carried him aboard. He set Keith down in the cockpit, Blue curling up next to him, refusing to leave his side. Probably never would after this.
Lance almost broke down when the lion straightened, ready for command. A mix of feelings passed between them over their link, as if Red too had missed their connection and was desperate to fill Lance in.
Happiness. Grief. Anger. Resolve.
I know, buddy. Me too.
Lance dropped down into the pilot's seat, sad to see the dust on his controls, nostalgia washing over him as he took the stick in his hands.
Relief. Trust.
Love.
Lance's brows rose at the last one, and his cheeks warmed. Love you too, Red.
"Shiro," Lance panted into Red's comm, gripping the stick to turn the lion around. "I got him."
"Thank god. Is he okay?" Shiro rushed out.
"He's alive," Lance said, glancing back at Keith's bloody body. "He needs some medical attention."
"Then let's get the hell out of here."
Lance's fingers moved unconsciously for the controls, his muscle memory taking over. Lance grinned. "You heard him, Red. Let's bounce."
The lion shot out of the hangar and into the sky, leaving the prison far behind them.
OoO
Lance lay draped over Keith's pod, half-asleep.
He'd been relieved to learn that the team had built healing pods in the lions' cargo holds back on earth. Now they could treat their wounded away from the castle if need be.
And Keith needed treatment very, very badly.
He'd passed out in Red, and when they'd landed on an uninhabited planet to reconvene, Shiro had almost broken down at the state of his brother.
Today marked the fifth day Keith had been in the pod, and while his scans showed remarkable recovery...they also drawn a pretty gruesome picture of what Keith had been through.
The scans revealed serious nerve damage—likely a symptom of the druid's favorite torture method. The bones in his legs and fingers had been broken and repaired several times over. He'd been malnourished and seriously dehydrated.
And that was just the physical stuff.
Lance had no idea where Keith's head was.
Sure, he'd seemed relatively normal—joking around, arguing with Lance—but he'd also been half-awake and hardly able to function. When reality hit, who would take his place?
Shiro had sent word to Pidge, Hunk, and Krolia to let them know Keith had been found, and they'd all decided to meet up shortly. For now, Lance and Shiro had agreed to wait until Keith emerged from the pod to assess his mental health, to give him enough time to recover.
Lance had also insisted Shiro keep his presence a secret from the others. He wanted to surprise them when they all convened at Hunk's restaurant. He wanted to save up all the tears and laughs for a proper reunion.
Of course, Lance had still listened in on the call, and he'd almost lost it when he'd heard his friend's voices. Their joy at the news. Their awe at Keith's rescue.
Even though Lance wished they could meet under better circumstances, he still couldn't wait to see them in person. To hug them senseless.
Lance was just starting to doze off when he heard a distinct chime.
Before he could comprehend what was happening, the pane beneath him dissolved, and he was falling face-first into Keith's chest.
"Ah!" He stumbled back, bouncing to his feet.
Keith blinked up at him through bleary eyes. "...Lance?"
God, he looked so much better.
Color had returned to his cheeks, the blood gone from his face—courtesy of Shiro. The nutrients from his IV had already improved his muscle mass, though he was still skinnier than Lance had ever seen him. He also looked older, but Lance suspected that had more to do with the haircut and his sunken cheeks than anything.
Lance smiled gently and leaned over the side of the pod, gripping Keith's shoulder. "Hey. Welcome back."
Keith winced, reaching up to clutch his head, and Lance helped him into a sitting position. "You good?"
"Yeah," Keith managed. "Just…exhausted."
"Five days not enough sleep for you?"
Keith huffed, closing his eyes. "Apparently not."
Lance's grin faltered, and he swallowed. "Come on. Let's get you out of that pod."
Nodding, Keith latched onto Lance as he pulled him out. His bare feet touched the metal floor, and he sighed, releasing Lance to stand on his own.
For a moment, Keith simply stared at Lance, taking him in. Assessing.
"You're really here," he said. "I thought I'd been dreaming."
Lance smiled a little, not sure what to say. "I'm here. I'm just sorry it took so long."
Too long.
"...How long has it been on Earth?"
Lance gazed back at those blue-gray eyes, wondering what thoughts they harbored. "Three years."
Three years since you kissed me and vanished, he thought. Three years since you turned my life upside down.
Or right-side up, depending on how you looked at it.
Keith's thick brows shot high on his forehead. He looked away, then back at Lance. "And...how long since you heard from us?"
"About a year. And then nothing until a few weeks ago, when Shiro showed up at my door asking for my help."
Keith's face softened, and his eyes lifted. "You came for me?"
"Did I...what?" Lance blinked in confusion.
Did...did Keith think Lance had just been randomly roaming the edges of the universe or something? Came across him by sheer luck?
"Of course I came for you," he said, sticking his hands in his pockets to curb the temptation to pull Keith into his arms. "I would have come sooner if I'd known."
Something flickered over Keith's face, an emotion Lance couldn't identify. He looked down again, brow furrowed.
Silence stretched between them, on and on, and Lance couldn't take it. Jessica had been right—there was tension between them, heavy with the unsaid.
"Keith…I'm sorry," he breathed sadly, wishing there was a better word to sum up everything he was feeling right now. "I'm sorry what happened to the team. What happened to you."
Keith shook his head. "This wasn't your fault."
"If I'd been there—"
"Lance. I don't blame you for what happened to me," he said, gaze hardening. "I'm alive, aren't I? Red's back. Lotor didn't get the information he wanted. Everything's fine."
"How is everything fine? You were captured. You were held captive for months, Keith."
What did they do to you? Lance wanted to ask. How badly did they hurt you? How can I make you better?
Keith crossed his arms over his chest, raising his defenses, and it was so entirely Keith that Lance couldn't help but grin a little.
Fuck, he'd missed this emotionally stunted jackass.
Lance cleared his throat. "Um...Shiro will want to know you're awake. Do you want me to go get him?"
Keith turned, leaning against the pod, his knuckles white against the edge. "I don't really want to see him right now…"
Lance felt a pang of sadness shoot through his ribcage. He knew Keith had gone through shit, through things Lance couldn't possibly imagine. But Shiro had suffered too. He'd suffered a unique kind of torture.
"Keith…Shiro spent months searching for you," Lance said. "He never gave up on you, even when it felt hopeless."
Lance had never seen Shiro so stressed and broken and hollow. Losing Keith had torn him apart.
Still, Keith said nothing, refusing Lance eye contact.
"After all this time you still won't forgive him for wanting to go home to Adam?" Lance pushed. "Are you seriously going to punish him for that?"
Keith tensed—he must not have realized just how much Lance knew. "That's not it…I just…" He crushed his eyes close.
"What, then?"
Keith grimaced. "Nothing."
Lance shook his head. "No, tell me. Why are you pushing Shiro away, Keith?" He understood why Keith was acting weird around Lance, but Shiro deserved better.
Keith's shoulders were taut, his back stiff, hands clenched. "With Lotor back…that means the universe needs Voltron again. It means the war isn't over. But...I don't want to be the Black Paladin, Lance. Not if I have to hold this team together by myself, or if I have to go and find a new pilot for Red. I don't want to do this alone." He bent his head. "I can't."
Oh.
Lance sighed, shaking his head. "Well, you won't have to."
At this, Keith glanced back at him, dubious. "What?"
"You won't have to do this alone. I'm going to help you get the team back together. And I'm going to help you defeat Lotor. For real this time."
This was his role now—fixing the mess he'd made. Patching the holes he'd left.
Keith stared at him, eyebrows slanted upwards. Confused. Relieved. Uncertain.
"…And then?" Keith asked softly. "What happens after we stop Lotor?"
Lance lifted a shoulder. "I'm not sure after that. I just know that I shouldn't have left you in the middle of this war. That wasn't fair to you, to the team." Lance took a deep breath. "So I'm sorry. I'm sorry for leaving. But...I don't regret it. I got to spend time with my family. I got to feel like myself again, Keith. And I got to say goodbye this time. Now I'm ready to be here."
He was ready to be a paladin again. A hero again.
"For now," Keith said evenly.
Lance frowned, brows pinching together. "For now..."
Keith studied him for a beat, and then he drew away, moving for the door. "I need to clean up. Is there somewhere I can do that?"
It was a dismissal, and Lance was surprised by how much it hurt.
He swallowed the pain, managing a feeble grin. "There's a river outside. It's safe—I swam in it yesterday." He jerked his thumb upward. "There's a bag of clean clothes for you in the cockpit."
Keith nodded and climbed up the ladder without another word.
Lance steadied himself against the wall.
What…what had just happened?
OoO
That evening, Lance, Lox, and Shiro waited by the campfire for Keith to join them.
Lance had told Shiro that Keith smelled like ass and wanted to clean himself up first. That he wanted a moment alone to collect himself. He'd thought he'd been pretty convincing, but Shiro had sensed the lie in his words.
"He's mad at me still," he'd said. A statement, not a question.
"He's...processing," Lance had answered, and Shiro had deflated.
An hour later, Keith appeared at the forest's edge in his old gray shirt and black jeans. Hair wet. Skin clean.
He stopped just short of the camp, his gaze locking on Shiro.
Shiro stood slowly, cautiously, like he was worried he might scare Keith away.
"Keith."
It was soft. Soft and desperate.
Shiro moved forward, and Keith retreated a step. Body stiff. Eyes dark and troubled.
Pain claimed Shiro's face, but he didn't give up. He'd come this far. What was another twenty feet?
He took another step forward, and this time Keith didn't move. He stood frozen in place. Panicking, because he obviously missed his brother—he'd probably thought he'd never see him again—panicking because he knew the moment he let Shiro in again, he'd have to accept Shiro's retirement.
Shiro walked forward, one step after another, until he stood directly before Keith.
They stared at one another for a heartbeat, conveying a message deeper than any words could.
Then Shiro closed the distance, yanking Keith into a hug and burying his face into the young man's shoulder.
Lance watched as Keith slowly lifted his arms to hug Shiro back. As Keith slowly melted into his brother, sinking into his embrace.
Lance smiled, glancing over at Lox, whose midnight eyes had swelled with tears.
Lance gaped at her. "Lox? Are you okay?"
She chuckled, sniffling. "Family is...net."
"Net?"
"Always catch us. No matter what."
Lance smiled warmly, slinging an arm around her shoulder and pulling her into his side.
He watched Keith and Shiro finally break apart, wiping their eyes, laughing a little. Keith smoothed his short hair out of his face, his gaze sweeping over the camp and finally landing on Lance.
Lance swallowed, staring back at Keith, waiting.
Waiting for the reunion he'd anticipated all along, with hugs and confessions and something in Keith's eyes that told him their connection wasn't really dead. That their bond wasn't broken.
Instead, Keith glanced away and bid Shiro goodnight.
I hate writing action scenes lmao.
I apologize if this chapter's a mess. I'll probably go back and clean it up a bit.
Next time: angst and more angst and more reunions
Art for this chapter: post/178331314124/you-lookolder-keith-squinted-tilting-his-head