Pidge picked at his late breakfast as he looked over the previous night's data from the Control Room. Nothing out of the ordinary jumped out at him, but he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something he was missing. He called up the automatic scans from previous nights to compare. There were no notable anomalies. He ran back over the past month; there was still nothing. It was maddening.

He had been searching for any unexplained ardillium signatures even before Keith had woken him early that morning to report Wade's supposed second reactor in the Kuiper belt, but the investigation was proving difficult. Nobody ever seemed to appreciate how big the galaxy actually was until you were looking for something very, very small, even given a limited area. He could have used some assistance, but the cadets were still mostly tethered to Daniel in the infirmary and Lance and Allura…were best not interrupted. Pidge sighed. The scans were all automated and set to alert to him directly if any irregularities arose, but he mostly would have liked to feel like the team wanted to be involved. At least Hunk was being helpful; after a protein-heavy breakfast, he had gone right to the Control Room to monitor the sensors from there. So far, he had found an asteroid that looked like a cupcake, which he had excitedly reported. Pidge had tried to return his friend's enthusiasm.

He looked up as Lance and Allura entered the room, relaxed and cuddly. Even if it was taking up most of their time while their bonding was going on, they were surprisingly easy to get used to as a couple, probably because they just looked so happy together. He had to admit his willingness to accept their relationship may have been connected to Dr. Lunnen's initial analysis of them in the Lions. The data from their moments of telepathy really did resemble some of his readings from the nexus and what had happened when they'd been in their Lions was unlike anything he'd ever seen. Though fascinating, Pidge had found it took only one suggestion of voyeurism to lose interest in future brainscans. Besides, sex looked nothing like their interaction with the Lions, which was where his curiosity lay. It was much easier just to take love at face value, which in turn was easier when he avoided hearing about the biology of bonding from Dr. Lunnen. The woman just didn't understand how to stop talking about her work.

A waiter had already placed cups of coffee by their seats when Lance pulled out a chair for Allura, which she took with a smile. "Good morning, Pidge."

"Morning." His own coffee cup had been empty for some time, but no amount of fiddling with it had gotten him a refill and now the waiter had disappeared again.

The spoon clinked against the rim of Allura's cup as she stirred in milk and sugar. "You look busy."

He nodded, wondering if the slight blip on his tablet screen was something significant or just interference. "Looking over the overnight scans."

"Not of us, I hope," Lance said, raising an eyebrow from behind his coffee cup. "I'm almost scared to put on my Voltcom. Thanks for that, by the way."

"Oh. Right." Pidge did have to admit that any voyeuristic brainscans were his fault. Indirectly. "Sorry."

Allura frowned at him before turning to Pidge. "I'm sure you only gave her access to our brainscans through our Voltcoms for the advancement of scientific understanding."

"Speaking of which, where is the mad scientist?" Lance leaned back in his chair and rested his arm around Allura's shoulders. "Is she going to be around to see how breakfast affects our brain mojo?"

"No. Thankfully, Dr. Lunnen likes to eat early." Pidge had been avoiding her, just in case she wanted to show him more of what she called the more titillating data. "Keith actually contacted me last night before he and Coran left Qirillon to tell us that Prince Ajax told him Wade bought two secret reactors from the Qirillians. You found less powerful one, Lance, and the other is supposedly somewhere in the Kuiper belt, though I haven't found any evidence of it yet."

Lance paused with his coffee cup halfway to his mouth. "That's pretty damn close to Earth."

"At least it's far enough that it wouldn't damage anything if the reactor went critical like the one on Ikaria."

"But didn't you just say it's more powerful than…" Allura was interrupted by the arrival of two very impressive plates for her and Lance. Pidge had to note that they both got the fresh fruit salad the waiter had told him the kitchen was out of. "Oh, thank you."

The waiter bowed. "Can I get you anything else, Princess?"

"This is quite enough."

"Hold on." Lance was looking at his massive meal like there was something missing. "I think I feel like eggs. But not those giant bird eggs, just regular size eggs. Over easy."

"Very good, Commander."

"Oh, and more coffee. Need a refill, Pidge?"

"Uh, yeah, that'd be great."

"Anyway, I believe before every breakfast food but eggs was delivered," Lance paused to pop a piece of chorple bacon into his mouth, which he continued to speak around "'lura wuff afking…" He suddenly stopped and looked at her.

From their rapidly shifting expressions, Pidge could only assume they were talking to each other. "Not to interrupt," they both suddenly looked at him guiltily, "but to answer your question, I don't think any ardillium explosion from as far off as the Kuiper belt would have effects on Earth. It just wouldn't be powerful enough, though any passing ships would be in trouble."

Allura seemed concerned. "Still, how did Wade hide something like that so close to Earth with no one noticing?"

"This is the same creep who made it against the law to talk about Voltron, invented an invisible prison and tried to kill you on live television in Lion versus robot gladiator combat." Lance suddenly dropped the piece of toast he was holding in favor of taking her hand. "Okay, now I'm even madder at the psycho creep than I thought."

The waiter chose that moment to reappear with a plate. "Your eggs, Commander."

"Oh, thanks. And I was talking about Wade, not you. Y'know, with the psycho creep thing."

"Of course. Fresh coffee is brewing and will be out in a few moments."

"Thanks." Lance was either doing a great impression of Hunk or he was just really in the mood for eggs as he started to eat in earnest, letting go of Allura's hand. She smiled and he made a dismissive gesture.

Pidge could tell this telepathy thing was going to wear thin for everyone else pretty quickly. He decided to return to the topic at hand. "The problem with finding something in the Kuiper belt is just the sheer volume of objects to scan. Assuming the reactor is shielded and protected, we may not find it until something goes wrong with it, like with the Ikaria reactor. I suppose I could modify our sensors, but I don't know how well it will work long-range and we can't realistically…" he trailed off as he watched the waiter walk away without refilling his coffee after doing so for Lance and Allura's. "Maybe I'll head for the Control Room to start working on a solution to that."

"Can we do anything?"

Allura seemed genuine, but Pidge shook his head. "Not at the moment. I'll let you know. I'm sure Dr. Lunnen will be looking for the two of you anyway."

"Don't remind me." Lance flicked at his Voltcom. "First Red, now you. I'd be worried about my jacket if it had any electronics in it."

He and Allura were laughing at something neither of them had said out loud as Pidge walked out. Some good old fashioned sensor recalibration would make for an interesting morning.

Keith had never been happier to navigate through the tedious magnetic disturbances that existed on this approach to Arus. It meant they were almost back, hours sooner than expected. Black Lion had really seemed pleased about their unusual speed. Keith gave him a little more freedom to fly and turned his head. "Coran? You awake?"

"Of course." The older man was looking attentively out the window. "I see we have made excellent time."

"We have stuff to do. And Black needs to get recharged before we head out to find that base in the Kuiper belt."

"You trust Prince Ajax's information?"

"You think he's some master of deception?"

Coran chuckled. "Perhaps not. But it is possible that he is simply being used by his father."

"To what end?"

"A distraction? Perhaps King Ablen hopes to retrieve the reactor from its real location while you search for it elsewhere. Or perhaps there is no second reactor, but your instincts about ardillium weapons are correct and the king was attempting to change your focus?"

"I don't like it."

"If there is an ardillium reactor hidden in the Kuiper belt, I'm sure the Voltron Force will be able to deal with it effectively. It is possible it would not even be a threat and could be put to good use."

"On Arus?"

"Certainly not. I wouldn't think much of myself as an advisor if I advocated against purchasing a technology I don't trust only to take it from the stockpile of Wade, a man I trust even less. Besides, I don't want to feel as if we are obligated to invite King Ablen to Arus every time we host an event. I believe his son annoys Princess Allura."

"I think he was just infatuated. Not so unreasonable." Keith tightened his grip on the controls as Black shuddered slightly. "Although I may have told him she wasn't interested in him."

Coran sighed. "Keith, if you would like to declare your intentions toward Princess Allura…"

"Me? No! But…" A rush of hot guilt ran through him. He had told himself he wouldn't mention anything to Coran, that he would leave it alone. If there was something going on between Lance and Allura, they should be the ones to share it. "I don't know if it's my place to tell you."

"Very well," Coran replied seemingly unperturbed.

"You should talk to Lance and Allura when we get back," Keith blurted out, overcome by the sudden feeling that he was tattling to the principal.

"Ah, speaking of our arrival…"

Ten minutes later, Keith was walking out of Black Lion's mouth in the hangar, where Pidge and Hunk were waiting on the catwalk. "Keith! We weren't expecting you until a lot later!"

"We made good time. I was eager to get out of there anyway. Any leads on that ardillium in the Kuiper belt?"

Pidge shook his head. "I'm focusing my attention on the larger objects, dwarf planets, but no luck yet."

"How's Daniel?"

"Getting better. He could be out of the infirmary in two or three days. I think the cadets are enjoying the time off from classes, actually."

"This is no time for a vacation, not with another ardillium reactor out there in…" Keith suddenly realized what was bothering him. "Where's Lance?" He swallowed, hard. "And Allura?"

"Uh, not here?"

"Yeah, I can see that, Hunk. Any idea where they are?"

"Lance said something about archeology, then they took off on a hovercycle." Hunk shrugged. "But wherever they are, you can be sure they're together."

Keith had been expecting something in that vein, but it still created a pit in his stomach. "So they're on speaking terms again?"

"Speaking? Definitely." Pidge and Hunk shared an uncomfortable look. "You know, there's a team out at Silvanus Falls looking for the armor that goes with the piece Lance found there yesterday. That must be what he meant."

"Well, get them back here, Pidge. We need to start planning how to find this base and how to avoid another Ikaria once we do." Keith saw Pidge and Hunk exchange another loaded glance and narrowed his eyes. "What are you two not telling me?"

Unusually, the only sound in the hangar was a space mouse skittering across the floor. Hunk finally asked, "You, uh, ever heard of bonding?"