A/N: And I've upped the rating to Explicit because this chapter is mostly just porn. Not that y'all are complaining I bet. ^_~

Chapter summary: In which Lance in helpless to do anything but feel and Commander Iverson need a good, stiff drink.


56: Smoky Quartz - elevates mood, relieves depression, & balances sexual energy

"Go away."

"No."

"Go away."

"No."

"I am not in the mood to talk right now."

"You don't have to."

"Then stop following me."

"Those two things have nothing to do with each other."

"You're still following me."

"You're still talking."

"I am not talking."

"You're moving your mouth and sounds are coming out in forms that translate as words that make sense."

"Blagh-blarg-gobbledy-gook."

"That doesn't change the fact that you're talking."

"You're obnoxious."

"And you're still talking."

"Technicalities."

"Technicalities that are continuing to happen therefore rendering your argument annulled."

"Tha-" Lance actually stopped in his tracks and turned back to Keith who also stopped just a pace or so behind him with a vaguely impressed expression. "That was unexpectedly eloquent."

Keith tilted his head and eyed his mate dubiously. "Are you insulting me?" he asked.

"Maybe," Lance said with a shrug.

"You're a jerk," Keith grumbled.

"I thought that was obvious," Lance said, snickering.

"You are very hard to deal with sometimes," Keith said with a sigh.

The prince shrugged. "I was the middle child," he said. "I had to stand out somehow."

The red paladin rolled his eyes. "I doubt you had to work too hard for that."

Lance hummed. "Latif was worse." He snickered, turning to keep walking down the hallway. "This one time, he and Alwida dyed Allura's hair red."

"They… They what?" Keith asked. "Why?"

"Because they could," Lance said. "And she was going to present at the System Lords' Moot for the first time and they thought it'd be hilarious if she had red hair," he said.

"Was it?" Keith asked in cautious amusement.

"Oh my lord yes," Lance declared proudly. "I almost didn't recognize her. She started yelling and throwing a fit which left an impression. From then on, she was instantly recognizable to everyone in our quadrant even when her hair was white again." He threw his head back and cackled. "I think more people were interested in Alteans during that Moot than any of the others before that."

"What about after?" Keith asked curiously.

Lance shrugged, his laughter fading. "I wouldn't know," he said. "We weren't exactly active in politics unless it involved exploration and peacekeeping. We were thrust onto the main stage of the universal political field when we build Voltron to help defend ourselves and others we were sent to protect. But that was before I was born."

Lance glanced back at Keith when he arrived at his bedroom door. "Voltron was never intended to be an offensive warrior, only a defender," he said slowly. "After the Voltron introduction and then Allura's hair fiasco, the only other time we were the at the center of universal events was when the Galra attacked us." He grimaced and opened the door to his room. "For once, we were the ones in need of defending and no one came to our defense."

Keith lingered in the doorway watching Lance move about his room. The prince could feel his mate's eyes on his back, watching his every move and strangely it didn't feel odd or uncomfortable. He did turn around when he heard the door hiss shut again.

Keith was now inside the prince's room but his eyes hadn't left Lance's body. Suddenly, Lance felt the slightly quiver of energy dance along his spine. One of Keith's ears twitched and his nostrils flared.

"You like me looking at you," the red paladin said softly.

It wasn't quite a question, but it could have been. Lance chose to ignore it and wait for more. He did flush, however, and turned away to gaze out of the view screens. The Balmeran's host star shone bright through the thick clouds covering the landscape stretching out from the Castleship. It was strangely beautiful. But nowhere near as beautiful as Altea.

Hands slipped around his waist and a firm chest pressed against his back. The prince sighed when something warm and familiar pressed between his behind hinting at what could happen if he let it. He knew it would help him feel better and it would certainly distract him from what was going on in his life at the moment. So without thinking too deeply into what he was doing, Lance pressed his bottom back against Keith's crotch, rolling his hips just so.

The hands on his waist dropped to either side of his hips and tightened their grip. A soft purr reached his ears and Lance sighed, letting his eyelid droop to half-mast. He rolled his hips back harder, and felt his breath catch when Keith suddenly gripped him and ground into him.

"It's too bright for this," Lance mumbled, reaching out to the panel that would turn off the view screen.

The moment the view screen went dark, Keith pushed Lance onto the bed and climbed over him. The prince was breathing more deeply when Keith settled on his hands and knees, caging in his mate from above. Lance rolled to the side to look up at the red paladin's face.

"Do you want something?" Lance asked.

A rumbling growl worked its way up Keith's throat as the halfbreed's violet and gold eyes narrowed with desire. It was flattering and Lance wanted that look to stay.

"How badly do you want me?" Lance asked, deliberately undoing his shirt and pants bindings. "Show me."

"I'll knot," Keith warned.

"If you can last long enough," Lance said, laying back on the bed beneath his mate.

Without breaking eye contact with Keith, Lance slid down the bed sheets until his face was even with the growing bulge in the halfbreed's pants. He reached up and pulled Keith's hips down so he could nuzzle the hat bulge and mouth it through his mat's clothes. Keith made an adorable sound that was halfway between a keen and growl when Lance nipped the fabric covered penis.

Working quickly, Lance undid his mate's pants and pushed them down and away so he could fully appreciate the sight before him. Keith's penis was stiffening but clearly had a ways to go before it was ready to push into Lance's body. Good thing the prince was interested in helping that along.

He slowly took Keith's penis in his mouth, simply sliding up the hot pulsing flesh until the tip touched the back of Lance's throat. Keith groaned and buried one hand in the prince's dark hair to hold it in place. The red paladin's hips were shaking, clearly fighting the urge to thrust into Lance's wet heat. Then Lance swallowed and Keith didn't bother holding back anymore.

Lance tried alternating between sucking and keeping his cheeks relaxed as his mate thrust into his mouth rather forcefully. He surreptitiously stuck two fingers inside himself and began thrusting into his own bottom, trying to keep pace with Keith fucking his face. The prince hummed around his mouthful when he added a third finger and Keith growled,

The next thing Lance knew, his mouth was empty, he'd been dragged up the bed, and flipped over so he lay face first on the mattress. Before he could formulate a question, Keith was on top of him, draping over him, and pressing his hot, freshly wet penis into his hole. Caught by surprise, Lance gripped the blankets beneath him and tried to spread his leg further but was hindered by his pants. He groaned and tried kicking his pants down his legs with very little success.

Hands gripped Lance's pelvis and lifted it slightly so Keith could finish inserting his entire length into him. It felt hot, so very hot. The Blue Lion purred in her paladin's mind and sent a pulse of bone chilling cold into Lance's core causing him to shiver. In response, Keith thrust into him eliciting a startled cry from the prince. Fortunately, Keith held blessedly still so Lance could get used to the intrusion. Unfortunately, Keith's penis was growing in size and filling Lance up to the point of near pain.

Lance tried to spread his legs so body didn't grip his mate so tightly, but found himself pinned by Keith's weight. Then the halfbreed thrust down into him and it became difficult to keep a hold of his own thoughts.

"Keith," he murmured, turning his head the injured side of his face pressed into the blankets.

He could barely move in this position but that was thrilling in a way that send feathers fluttering in his belly. It felt so good like this, unable to move at will, completely at the mercy of his mate. The last time he'd felt helpless like this, it hadn't been something he'd enjoyed. But now, with Keith draped on top of, the burning heat seeping into his skin, Lance found he not only wanted this, he needed it.

He shuddered when the Blue Lion's cold filled him to the brim only to be melted away when Keith began thrusting into him. The rhythm was faster than it had been their first time together, but it was no less exhilarating. Strong hand gripped his wrists and maneuvered them so they were pinned between Keith's stomach and Lance's back. Then Keith's right arm looped around the prince's body and held them flush against each other. The halfbreed's left hand helped position Lance's hips, moving and adjusting them so Keith could find the angle of entry.

The new position effectively removed any lingering control Lance had over the situation sending adrenaline racing through his system. He was completely and utterly helpless. The last time he'd been subjected to this position, it had been Sendak hovering over him, binding him, attempting to make him submit. He hadn't given in. He hadn't then and he wouldn't n-

"Ah!"

Keith laughed by the prince's ear, feeling his mate's body arch against him. "There?" he asked and forced his hips back down, burying himself in Lance's bottom as hard as he could eliciting another half broken cry. "I will ruin you," Keith whispered, his hot breath tickling the hairs by Lance's ear, pounding into the prince. "I'll make sure nothing and no one will ever measure up to what I can give you. I will ruin you for everyone but me. You are mine, Lance. Mine."

"Ugh…ha…s-na…hard…er," Lance pleaded.

The next thrust knocked the wind out of him. He struggled to meet his lover's thrusts but found he couldn't. He whined and his body shivered, his hold twitching and tightening around Keith.

"Submit," Keith said, emphasizing his command with a well-placed thrust that made Lance's body instinctively arch in please.

Lance shuddered and gasped but shook his head.

"Submit," Keith said again.

Lance grunted from the force of his lover fucking him into the bed, feeling tears begin to form in his eyes. His body ached and his skin tingled with sensation. He gasped and swallowed over his dry throat.

"Make me," he said breathlessly.

He whimpered when Keith growled and began suckling his left eye scale. The sensation was overwhelming him, holding him tantalizingly close to the brink but never letting him fall. He gave a strangled cry when teeth scraping lightly across his eye scale's surface.

"I am your mate," Keith said, his wet lips brushing over the saliva soaked eye scale and cheek. "You are mine. I will overwrite everything that has been done to you until all you can think about is me. I will make you scream my name when you come."

Lance gasped feeling his lover's penis throb, the heat clashing with the cold of his body. He turned his face away from Keith's attentions and buried his face in the blankets. His hips pressed down into the mattress, wanting desperately to do what should be normal for anyone else, needing to climax but unable to even get hard. He gave a choked cry that was muffled by the blankets when Keith's hot tongue licked a trail up his neck before delving into the folds of his ear shell.

"So…good," he gasped. "M-more. Harder. Pl-please."

"You have to come for me first," Keith said, biting Lance's ear hard.

Keith's thrusts were getting erratic as his climax approached. The penis buried deep in Lance's body began to swell dragging a groan from the prince's mouth.

"Submit to me," Keith commanded.

Lance shook his head, his whole body moving with Keith's.

"Submit."

"Keith," Lance gasped.

The halfbreed growled hungrily, "Submit Lance."

The prince trembled when turned his head so his neck was bared as best as could be in his currently position.

"Good boy," Keith murmured and bit the vulnerable Mark hard enough to break the top layer of skin.

Lance felt his entire body tense up at the compliment, his muscles clamping down on his lover's erection until Keith finally spilled inside of him. Then the penis began to swell bringing with it more pain-tinged heat. He struggled weakly in Keith's grasp, crying out and falling abruptly still when his lover bit down harder.

It hurt so bad but it felt so good. He couldn't stop shaking as his hypersensitive body tried to make sense of what was happening to him. He was still unable to break free from his lover's intimate embrace. Now with Keith's knot fully expanded, he wouldn't be able to move for a good few tecks or so.

"K…Keithek," he breathed, loving the involuntary thrust of Keith's hips when he said his lover's full name. "Move."

Keith purred and rocked his hips into Lance's stuffed and plugged bottom. Lance felt the halfbreed's soft ears tickle his cheek as Keith tried to pick up the rhythmic movements once more. Lance was overly sensitive to the point the intimacy bordered on pain, but he didn't want it to stop. Ever.

"Make me submit," he said, shuddering as another wave of cold flooded his body, combating the influx of heat from Keith's unnaturally warm skin. "Don't stop. Do me until I scream."

Keith growled and moved, nudging Lance's head to roll to the side with soft kisses. The moment the prince's lips were within reach, Keith devoured them in a scalding kiss that promised so much more. When Keith finally pulled out of his lover, he'd come three time at Lance's encouragement.

He never knew Lance hadn't come once.


Iverson sat in the back of the coffee shop doing his best to stay out of the public eye. It hadn't been easy since he came out as a whistle-blower. Thankfully, the nonprofit group that protected whistle-blowers like him had stepped up in his defense quickly and efficiently. Since the Galaxy Garrison was a civilian and military partnership focused mostly on training pilots and engineers for future space travel, the scandal had attracted a lot of attention both nationally and internationally.

Unfortunately, that also meant his face had been plastered all over the Internet and news networks. Honestly, it was the Internet side of things that been the most useful and the most terrifying. News traveled faster over the Internet and reached more people through that medium than any other, news channels included. The nonprofit group protecting his rights had made quick work of helping him spread the evidence as quickly and efficiently as possible.

But now, every time Iverson went on the Internet, he saw memes of his face floating around websites like Facebook. At the urging of the group, he'd deactivated his Facebook account. It was probably for the best considering the overwhelming response he'd received from the public. Most of the attention had been positive. No one liked the idea of involving children in cover-ups, especially if those children got hurt or killed.

But there were always those handful of idiots who were dead set on sending him hate mail and death threats. He laughed those off for the most part. He'd seen active duty on the battlefield. A few cowards who attacked with words over the Internet didn't scare him. What did scare him was the possibility of those children never being found. He was fairly certain they were dead, but a part of him couldn't help but hold out hope that they would find them alive and well. Even if the possibility of finding bodies, if that, was slowly becoming more and more realistic as the days passed.

He was meeting the mother of one of the children here shortly. It was the only reason why he was at a café at all. He preferred bars where he could drink and forget. But Mrs. Holt had asked for a café instead. It was an understandable request when Iverson thought about it, he just wasn't used to this kind of setting. The people here were much younger and there was no alcohol to be found. Video phones were a dime a dozen though. He'd already caught several people snapping photos of him thinking they were so sneaky. Not by a long shot.

Still, he had to admit this place had good, strong coffee. It was hot and strong. I wasn't as good as the café down the street that had a bar in it, but it would do.

He didn't look up when a middle-aged woman walked into the café and ordered a coffee, but he recognized her reflection in the window. He lifted his drink to his lips when she came and sat at his small table, pulling out her computer and plugging it in.

"Commander Iverson?" she asked.

"Mrs. Holt," he said.

"I don't understand know why you wanted to speak with me," she said. "Thank you for telling the truth of what happened to my husband and my son, but I'm not sure what else you could tell me that wasn't released to the press."

"Do you know where your daughter is, Mrs. Holt?" Iverson asked without prelude.

The woman stiffened and Iverson had to admit he admired her fortitude. Even caught off guard, Mrs. Holt did not drop her coffee like an over-dramatic heroine in a romantic comedy. Quite the opposite, in fact. Her eyebrows drew down and she gave Iverson a glare that, had she been in uniform, Iverson would have felt his job threatened. As it was, he was simply impressed and no longer wondered where Katie Holt had inherited her fiery temper from.

"Care to elaborate, Mr. Iverson?" she demanded, dropping the respectful title.

Ignoring the deliberate slight, the commander set his coffee down on the table and held up a hand to forestall Mrs. Holt's formidable fury. "You've heard about the two children who went missing do the Garrison's mishandling of events," he said. She nodded. "Did you hear their names?"

"Hunk Palakiko and Pidge Gunderson," Mrs. Holt answered promptly.

"Pidge Gunderson doesn't exist," Iverson said in a curt tone.

"What do you mean he doesn't exist?" Mrs. Holt said.

"Pidge Gunderson was a pseudonym used by your daughter, Katie Holt," Iverson said. "I'm sure you're aware of her expulsion from the Garrison and its premises. She enrolled in the Garrison under the name Pidge Gunderson as an engineer."

Iverson took another sip of his coffee and avoided Mrs. Holt's eyes. She needed a moment to gather herself and he wasn't so much of a dick that he wouldn't kick her when she was down.

"She excelled in her classes and quickly settled into her team as the crew engineer," Iverson said. "Her partner and dorm mate was Hunk Palakiko."

"How… How do you know this?" the distraught mother demanded. "Why wasn't I informed?"

The commander gave the woman a sharp look. "She enrolled as a male," he said. "We did a background check but your daughter is very proficient with computers and built herself a very robust personal history. No one noticed anything amiss until she slipped up. One of the men's bathroom toilets clogged up from a tampon."

Mrs. Holt pursed her lips and sat back in her seat. "I hardly see how that implicates Katie," she said.

"It doesn't," Iverson said. "Except that I knew Pidge was Katie to begin with. With her hair short, she is the spitting image of her brother."

The commander set his drink down and reached into his pocket to pull out a photograph he had clearly taken from some social media site. He placed the photo on the table and slid it towards Mrs. Holt.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I thought it best I told you in person so you didn't hear it from the media or some other outlet. They wouldn't have any answers for you if you questioned them."

Mrs. Holt took the picture hesitantly, tracing her children's faces with her fingernail. "So what you're telling me is," she swallowed back her tears, "both of my babies and my husband are dead?"

The commander sighed. "No," he said slowly. "I'm saying I know your daughter was alive when I last saw her. It isn't much," he admitted. "But I thought you should know."

Movement outside caught Iverson's attention and he took one last sip of his coffee before gathering his things and standing. "I doubt you want to talk to anyone right now," he said. "So I would advise you take an extended bathroom break."

Mrs. Holt looked up at the commander in confusion before glancing over her shoulder to the street outside the café. Already, there was a someone who was clearly with the media hustling across the road towards the café. She tucked the photograph in her purse, unplugged her computer, and stood. As she ran to the bathroom with her computer in her hand, she chanced a look back at the entrance to the café and watched Commander Iverson delay the reporter.

She still resented the commander for the part he played in expelling her daughter and indirectly for the part the Galaxy Garrison played in the loss of her son and husband. Perhaps her family was lost to her for the time being, but it appeared she had an ally in getting them back.