Eleven. He had eleven kids.

They organized themselves behind him as he piloted Blue as far away from the other planets as possible. He scanned planets and if they had any sign of civilization, they moved on. Lance was determined to find a planet that had no one so they could live without hiding all the time. He had moved all their things and all of the other kids things into the blue lion and they had created a little nest of sorts in the back.

"Lance!" Martle pulled a child about her own age into his view, "she can mend!"

"Mend? Like sew?"

"I mean, she can help me heal Heppik faster!"

The girl blushed and starred at her feet. Lance grinned at her.

"That's awesome! What's your name?"

"Nomi," she said, "my talent is rare."

She didn't look happy about it. In their world a rare talent was not to be celebrated.

"Well, Nomi," Lance reached up and patted her head, "I'm glad you're safe."

She nodded and shuffled to the back of the lion. Martle looked excited.

"There's so much of us!"

()

"Hunk, you are not allowed to speak…like, ever," Pidge hissed as they crouched behind a large boulder. They had touched down on a planet to get a sense of where they were at and had been discovered by a fleet of Hunters.

"How is this my fault?"

"How is it that whenever you open your mouth bad things happen!?"

"I can't argue with you Pidge! We're separated from everyone else and I can't take it!"

"You think I don't know that?!"

Pidge had to bicker. This was how she handled stress. She felt better when she was able to have a heated back and forth; made her feel like she could think the situation through a little faster.

()

"Coran will be here any second, right?" Keith asked, "he said he would check out the other side of the planet and be back!"

"he could be in as much trouble as we are," Allura sighed. They had found shelter in a ditch and were hiding until they could either run away or find an opening.

"they came out of nowhere…"

()

Ollie pulled Shiro into a crevice. He'd found a shallow overhang that would give them cover. Shiros right arm hung limp and he couldn't see straight. The boy looked at the damage to the mans head and let out a low whistle. It wasn't deep, but it wasn't going to stop bleeding without help. He ripped his sleeve off and pressed it against the wound.

"…Thanks," Shiro muttered lifting his hand and pressing the cloth to his head on his own, "sorry…"

"They were probably waiting for us to land somewhere they were already watching," Ollie said, "They do get a little vindictive, don't they?"

Shiro noted the lightness in the kids voice and how much it differed from the wide eyed fear that was written all over his face.

"Don't worry, even without the arm, I'm not bad in a fight."

Ollie shook his head, "I shouldn't have left. Hahaha, Kax is going to have a fit when I get back…if I get back…"

"Don't think like that. Of course you'll get back."

"I'm what they call a rare," Ollie said, "I shouldn't have left."

"We won't let them hurt you."

()

Lance jerked awake as a shreik sounded from the back of the lion. Many other cries sounded, but there was only one that was in hysterics. Lance quickly made his way back and found the one in the middle of a waking nightmare. The others were now also awake and Frea and another baby were up and screaming.

"Martle, get Frea. Someone take care of the other one." there was a third baby, but he'd been told that it was deft and was still sleeping soundly.

Lance cradled the terrified child, pinning her arms close to her body. Rocking her side to side she sobbed into his chest and shook uncontrollably. Looking around he noticed that many of the others were just as frightened.

Kids should never be made to feel this way.

"Baby mine, don't you cry.
Baby mine, dry your eyes.
Rest your head close to my heart,
Never to part, baby of mine.

Little one, when you play,
Pay no heed what they say.
Let your eyes sparkle and shine,
Never a tear, baby of mine.

If they knew all about you,
They'd end up loving you, too.
All those same people who scold you,
What they'd give just for the right to hold you.

From your hair down to your toes,
You're not much, goodness knows.
But, you're so precious to me,
Sweet as can be, baby of mine."

Lance repeated this lullaby as many times as he had to. When the girl in his arms was fast asleep again he set her down next to another child and pulled the blanket over them both. Looking around again he noticed they were all asleep with much calmer looks on their faces.

"Mission accomplished," Lance blew on his nails as he sauntered back to the cockpit.

()

Shiro blinked up at the Hunters in front of him. He could see the others had been captured as well. Ollie was kicking and fighting back as best he could…but Shiros ears were ringing and couldn't hear what was going on.

()

"Home sweet home everybody!" Lance called to loud cheers.

Gen ran forward, "you found a good place?"

"I found a good planet," Lance corrected, "we'll have the entire place to ourselves, more or less. Now we just have to make it work for us."

As the kids held on and got things ready for unloading, Lance descended and scanned the areas looking for a good place to land and set up shop.

He didn't want these kids to grow up underground like they had so far, but he had to hand it to the caves for being excellent covers for when they were attacked. It would be nice if they could have a hide out…

Blue gave a purr and drew his attention to a canyon. At the bottom were trees and hills; a river and a waterfall. Scanning it he found a cave behind the fall. Perfectly hidden.