"HEADING HOME!" Called Hunk and Pidge through the lions com.

"You're done already?" Lance asked. He'd not heard anything from them since the update that they were going to fight the ships. "how many were there?"

"Four," Farrah replied, he and GG were riding with Keith. "Haggar didn't show up."

I've been locked up for nothing…

"Right, Shiro can't wait to see you guys, and Corans been in the kitchen all day, so good luck."

Lance sat back in his old chair. He was in full armor. After the clone attack he'd taken to wearing it every day. He was still trying to get rid of the lingering headache caused by the electricity; that kind of stimulation didn't mix well with quintessence.

Well, he might as well just go lie down, maybe take a sleeping pill.

()

Shiro paced in in the hangar that Lance, if that was his real name, had shown him. He had told him that Keith would come directly here.

And come he did in a blast of air in a giant red robot lion. The head lowered and opened its mouth; out jumped Keith at a run.

"Shiro! You're ok!"

They hugged, but as Keith let go, Shiro held on for a moment longer.

"Shrio?"

"I wake up, don't know where I am or how I got here, and some kid tells me you're out instigating a rebellion!"

Keith winced.

"That's not all he told you, right?" Keith asked, just making sure.

"Oh he said a lot of things that I'm having a hard time swallowing, but first and foremost is the fact that you could have gotten yourself killed!"

"HA!" Shiro looked over to see two large purple aliens. They were both laughing.

"I've seen my little half-brother fight," Farrah said patting Keith on the back, "there is nothing to fear."

"Could use some work on entry, but that's it," GG nodded.

"I take it you two are the 'experienced fighters' that other kid talked about?"

"If he also said we were with Keith, then yes," GG said, "And you, father, owe him an apology."

"I do not," Farrah frowned, "I did what I thought was best as his father."

"You know he's pissed."

Farrah sighed and asked Shiro, "Do you know where I can find him?"

"No," Shiro said, "Last I saw him he walked out that door over there."

"I'll help look," GG said reaching into his pocket, "I bet he's also…really…"

"What?"

"He took my pouch," GG said, "That little brat took my pouch!"

"at least we know where to look, now," Farrah waved goodbye at Shiro and Keith as he dragged his son, still cursing, out of the hangar.

()

Hunk, after he kicked Coran out of his kitchen, went on the hunt for Lance. He'd checked all the public places and checked with everyone else. Keith said that Farrah was also looking for him, but they didn't know where. On his way to check the bridge again, thinking he must've gone there to say hi to everyone else he ran into GG.

"He's in his room," GG said, irritated, "He won't come out."

()

Hunk barged right in.

Lance lay on his back in his boxers and a t-shirt with a hole near the hem. By his head was a large box of pebble sized, multi-colored candy. The lights were off except for the dim baseboard lights around the room.

"Yo," he said looking up at Hunk, "Welcome back."

It was a dead greeting. Hunk shut the door behind him and sat next to his friend. He had a lot of friends since he was easy to get along with, but he saw Lance as a special friend. It had been Lance, and only Lance, who had actually encouraged him to pursue engineering.

"Talk to me," Hunk ordered. Lance snorted.

"Have some candy," Lance said instead. Hunk obliged and waited. It was a long time before his friend was ready to talk.

"I am so tired of not being tired," he said slowly. Hunk didn't understand, but he kept still, not wanting to interrupt and risk losing this small achievement.

"I wish none of you had found out," Lance continued, "it's a pain in the butt to try and be 'soft Lance' when you all know the truth. But I like the soft me better. I hate this. I hate scheming. I hate plotting. I hate liking the scheming and the plotting. I hate the expectation that comes with being able to plot. Once people know you're not as dumb, they start expecting solutions to come out of no where. I've been avoiding this for years! I can't wait to get out of this Hell hole an-OW!"

"Oops," Hunk said glowering down at his friend, "I'm afraid you just said something, what was it?"

Lance leaned away clutching his head. He knew Pidge and Keith had said Hunk could be scary, but he'd never personally seen it…till now.

"Ummm…"

"Lance, I knew for a long time that you were good with people! I sat and watched you convince Hedrikson to give you his pudding!"

"I never ate Hedriksons pudding-"

"It was butterscotch, you gave it to me," Hunk waved away the irrelevant information and continued, "Have you forgotten that I was with you on most of your evening outings and adventures? The stories you told the hall monitors was nothing short of genius! And don't get me started on the time you convinced Montgumery to give everyone two extra credit points on the test because of a misspelling in question six! I figured it out a long time ago!"

"Yeah, but Hunk-"

"And don't give me this 'soft Lance' and 'mean Lance' bull! You are Lance! That's it! Last I checked you didn't have MPD! You aren't schizophrenic! There's just you! So start acting like you! So what if you lose your temper? Everyone does! You're temper is a little more violent than most, but that's not a bad thing! How long have you been holding in every snide comment and every idea; since you were NINE?! And you're getting upset because now you're over the top?! You've been holding back for years! Are you seriously surprised that its all coming out like a landslide?!"

Lance let that all sink in. 'Landslide' was one way of putting it; a 'perpetual and continuous punch in the face' was another.

"You supported Keith when he became leader, you've helped out Shiro when he needed it, and you've always been there for me and Pidge. I can count on one hand, including this moment right now, how many times you actually came to us with something important."

"Sorry," Lance mumbled, "when was the last time we talked?"

"Before the clone chased off Keith," Hunk said, "I noticed you were acting weird, but I thought you'd come to me. That's why I'm here smacking you in the head this time."

Lance laughed, "Yeah, thanks for that."

Lance patted the floor and Hunk laid down at an angle, the candy box in between their heads. They snacked in silence for a while.

"I like butterscotch, why did I give it to you?"

"Earlier that day he said my fingers were too fat to work on the finer points of our group project."

"Hedrikson was always a bitch."