Chapter 22 –

"Yellow wants me to tell you that Ed's team have just arrived in Metso," Hunk told Al, breaking the silence in the car for the first time since they'd left Central half an hour ago. Hunk kept his voice low enough that Al had to lean forward over the aforementioned Lion to hear his words.

Al gave a small nod of acknowledgment. "Knowing my brother's luck, we're gonna hear about his latest encounter with Lotor within the next few hours," Al said resignedly.

"That seems to be Ed's luck and honestly, the fact Lance is with him just makes it worse," Hunk said with a chuckle that Yellow echoed in his mind.

"From the stories Ed has passed on from you lot, I completely believe that," Al said, a wry grin on his face. They were keeping their conversation as quiet as possible because neither 1st Lieutenant Kylie Clarke or Sergeant Valentine knew the truth behind Voltron, how they'd originally met Ed and Mustang, or how they'd actually arrived in their country and both Ed and Mustang had informed Voltron that no one else was to be told the truth. Even Brookes had agreed – when Ed and Mustang had brought him up to speed a month after Belmont's arrest – to keep it from his team, with the exception of Sheska, who already knew.

"He holds the record for most visits to the medical wing," Hunk informed him, telling Al all he needed to know about Lance's luck. "Keith is a close second," Hunk told him.

"So what you're saying is that Ed chose the two worst people to accompany him on this mission out of your team?" Al asked and Hunk gave a nod. Al sank back into the car seat. "Wonderful. I feel as though I should have called the Central Hospital and warned them of Brother possibly needing to be admitted once he's back," Al muttered, causing both Hunk and Yellow to huff out some laughter.

"So, I know it was explained this morning but I don't think the caffeine had quite kicked in when it was," Hunk started saying, speaking louder so Clarke and Valentine could hear them, "but why did we leave so much later than Ed's team?" Hunk asked.

Clarke turned around slightly in her seat so she could face Hunk as she answered his question. "Metso is at least three hours outside of Central – assuming the backroads are still in driveable condition – while Keog is only an hour or so," she reminded him and Hunk gave an understanding but still confused nod.

"No, I remembered that part but wouldn't it have been easier for the two of you if we left this morning when Ed's team did? We could've been on our way back to Central by now and you guys wouldn't have had to find a way to waste a couple of hours before we did leave," Hunk said.

Clarke gave a nod. "Honestly? I would've preferred to leave early this morning so we didn't risk being in Keog too late," Clarke said and both Al and Hunk recalled Brookes mentioning she had a young child at home, "but Lieutenant-Colonels Brookes and Elric both decided that if the war criminal from your country was heading to Keog, he likely wouldn't be there until lunchtime at the earliest. The reason we left when we did was so that we could be in Keog if and when Lotor passed through it rather than being too early and leaving before he could turn up," Clarke informed him.

"Oh, that makes sense, I suppose," Hunk said, his curiousity on that matter satisfied for the moment. "So what happens when we get to Keog? I think Lieutenant-Colonel Brookes mentioned there only being a handful of soldiers stationed in Keog yesterday," Hunk said.

"Yes, that's right," Clarke told him. "Part of what I was doing before we left for this mission was research on the soldiers who man the outpost in Keog," Clarke said. Al, who had been paying attention, perked up a little more so Clarke took it as her cue to continue talking. "Because the village of Keog is only small – a population of just under 200, including those who live on farming properties – there are only ten soldiers stationed out there, with two groups of four soldiers manning the outpost for eight hours at a time, while the other two pulled the graveyard shift with two more soldiers on call, just in case of emergencies. There's no one ranked higher than a lieutenant-colonel stationed there," Clarke told them.

"I thought Lieutenant-Colonel Brookes said there were only three or four soldiers based out there?" Al said questioningly.

"Before Promised Day there were," Clarke told him, her light red hair glinting in what sunlight shone through the car windows as she turned a little more so she could face Al a little better. "Once everything settled down after Promised Day though Fuhrer Grumman sent extra soldiers to the smaller outposts to help the towns with any clean-up they needed," Clarke explained. "Since Keog is a small town made up mainly of farmers who had been in the middle of harvesting or farming when the nation-wide array happened, there was a lot of damage done by runaway tractors and other farm vehicles," Clarke continued saying and Al gave a nod. The story wasn't an uncommon one since it had been harvesting season for most of Amestris when Father had sacrificed every single Amestrian – his chosen five excepted. Most towns had suffered similarly, leaving properties torn up, equipment damaged and the farmers or unfortunate bystanders injured or killed by vehicles out of control.

"I don't mean to sound insensitive but wouldn't all that damage have been fixed by now? I mean it's been nearly a year since the Promised Day," Hunk asked, sounding a little worried someone would snap at him.

"Oh no, all the damage has been fixed according to the reports from Keog," Clarke told him, giving him a reassuring smile so he would relax. Yellow nudged Hunk's hand with her head in comfort, which he showed his appreciation for by scratching her ears. "The reason there are still ten soldiers there is because Keog is one of the few small towns where we rotate soldiers just so they get some experience in a small, rural town and can learn the culture difference between them and cities," Clarke said. "There's always a permanent team stationed in the town, anywhere from four to fifteen men, depending on the size of the population, but Fuhrer Grumman issued orders for a set number of soldiers to rotate through each town. For Keog, the permanent numbers of soldiers stationed there is four while six soldiers are rotated out every six months," Clarke told him.

"How long does this rotation have until they're out of Keog?" Al asked.

"Actually, they'll only be stationed there for another three weeks," Clarke told him. "After that, they'll likely return to Central and either assigned to an officer like I am to Lieutenant-Colonel Brookes or they'll be absorbed into different divisions, like as a driver in the military carpool or something similar that doesn't have them as part of a team like mine or General Mustang's," Clarke explained.

"Will they get a choice about where they end up?" Hunk asked curiously and Clarke nodded.

"They will get the opportunity to request positions," Clarke said. "They can either request a specific unit, like Investigations, or inform the person in charge of reassigning them that they have no qualms about where they end up and they'll be assigned to an open position that suits their rank and experience. For example, one of them may have come from South City and wishes to return there now that they've gotten the experience they want in Central. If there is a position for them there in the unit they request or there is a team needing another member that would be suitable for them, they'll be assigned to South City," Clarke told Hunk.

"Oh, that sounds a lot like what happens back home with our military," Hunk said.

"Did you bring those files with you by any chance?" Al asked, referring to the briefcase that sat next to Clarke's legs. "I wouldn't mind knowing a bit more about them before we arrived," he explained before Clarke could question his request if she had been so inclined to do so.

"No," Clarke said regretfully. "I only have the documents and reports I need to help provide the soldiers in the Keog outpost with as much information on Lotor as possible," she told him.

"That's alright," Al assured her. "Can you remember specifics about those soldiers at all?" Al asked Clarke.

Clarke gave him a nod. "I can tell you what I remember from their files," Clarke told him. Al noticed Valentine glance at Clarke for a moment before he focused back on the road, betraying his own curiousity about the discussion that was about to happen. As Clarke began relaying what she'd read, Al twisted himself so he was able to face Clarke a little more comfortably as he listened to what she was saying, determined to try and remember it all.

"We're about to enter Keog," Valentine announced nearly forty minutes after Clarke had given everyone the information she could remember about the soldiers stationed at the outpost.

"Okay. Thanks for the heads up, Sergeant," Al said, stretching his arms and legs as best he could with Yellow lying on the floor between the two bench-styled seats he and Hunk were sitting on.

"You're welcome," came the response from Valentine and Al heard some sounds from the front seat that told him that Clarke was likely getting herself ready so she didn't look like she had been stuck in a car for 90-ish minutes.

Both Hunk and Yellow were peering out the window closest to them when Al glanced at them, seemingly keen to take in the view of the changing scenery. Al glanced out the window as well and found himself watching as the green grass, trees and flourishing crops pass them by. For a minute or so, all they saw was the countryside, broken up by the odd herd of cattle, sheep, or goats, and occasional horse, and the few houses, sheds, and barns that signified the land around it belonged to someone else. However, they soon began to see the signs of them approaching a settlement and soon enough, they were slowing down and navigating streets rather than unpaved roads.

As was usually the case, the military outpost sat nearly directly in the middle of town so Al, Hunk, Yellow, Clarke, and Valentine got a very good image of what the town was like. Despite all of his travels, Al was struggling to think of an established town that was smaller than Keog appeared to be. He'd only seen maybe twenty houses total, one pub/hotel, a small grocery store that seemed to double as a café, a small hairdressing salon, and the military outpost, which was where Valentine brought the car to a stop. When Al got out of the car, he saw there was a small school across the road as well as a small library situated next to it. Al knew there would likely be a produce store, mechanic, and farm equipment store located somewhere in the small town but for the main part, what they saw right now was everything of interest in the town.

"Lieutenant Clarke? Sergeant Valentine?" a voice queried, directing everyone's attention to the soldier walking towards them from the outpost. The man approaching them was of a similar build and weight of Falman but was closer in age to Havoc. His hair was the same colour as Lance's and Al could see he had brown eyes, like Sheska. There were crinkles at the corner of his eyes that told Al he wasn't always as serious as his current expression suggested and his tanned skin told Al that he likely spent as much time as he could in the sun.

"Lieutenant Thompson?" Clarke enquired, switching her briefcase from her right hand to her left and holding her free hand out for him to shake.

Thompson gave a nod before his brown eyes took in Valentine, who saluted him, then Al and Hunk before they finally fell on Yellow. It took everything in Al to stop himself from showing any sign of his amusement when Thompson visibly spooked, moving a step backwards and instinctively going for his weapon before he got a hold of himself. "My apologies," Thompson said, his eye still slightly wide as he kept them on Yellow.

"I'm getting rather annoyed by these reactions," Yellow complained to Hunk, who immediately reached out to scratch her soothingly behind the ear.

Thompson took in Hunk's movements while Clarke made the last of the introductions and Al was relieved to see that they helped the man relax a little more. "We apologise for neglecting to warn you that one of the diplomatic guests with us was Yellow," Clarke said. "As amazing as it sounds, I believe we have already become accustomed to them so it likely slipped the mind of the person who arranged this meeting to tell you," Clarke explained.

"It is a little hard to believe that you could become used to having a giant lion nearby so quickly but I imagine they have spent most of their time at Central Command and are likely considered old news there by now," Thompson commented lightly before he looked directly at Yellow. "I apologise for the rudeness of my reaction, Yellow," he said sincerely. It was obvious from Yellow's reaction that she had forgiven him and Thompson looked relieved at that. "If you would like to jump right into why you're here, please follow me. If you would like to grab something to eat for lunch or some coffee, there's a café a few buildings down that I would be happy to escort you to," Thompson offered.

Clarke looked at her four companions but no one indicated they were hungry just yet so she said, "I think we'd prefer to get started, if that's alright with you, Lieutenant?"

Thompson gave her a nod. "Of course," he said. "Please follow me. Those on shift today are waiting inside," Thompson explained before he turned around to lead them into the military outpost building.

No one hesitated in following him up the few stairs and into the building. Al noted it was set up similarly to the Resembool outpost building, with them walking directly into the waiting area, where a secretary sat behind the desk. Al was willing to bet that down the hallway, an office, interview room and storage sat and beyond that were the holding cells. Thompson introduced them to the secretary – a plump, middle-aged woman named Jennifer, though she was quick to insist they call her Jenny – before he asked them to wait there until he found the three missing members of his team.

"I like Jenny," Yellow said as they watched Thompson head down the hallway. At Hunk's questioning noise, she elaborated. "All she did was wave to me when I was introduced so therefore I will protect her with my life," she informed him.

"You have been spending far too much time around Lance," Hunk sighed, chuckling lightly when Yellow merely grinned. "I have a feeling she was expecting one of you, though," Hunk said through their bond. "She may have even seen you when we arrived," he said thoughtfully.

"I will still eat anyone who so much as looks at her wrong," Yellow declared.

"You've seriously spent far too much time with Lance," Hunk told her, causing her to huff slightly and Al to glance at the two of them.

"I never thought I'd say these words in my life but it's a little unfair that you two aren't able to keep me in on your telepathic loop," Al complained, though there was a twinkle of amusement in his eyes.

"Sorry," Hunk said, unable to stop himself from doing so, much to Yellow's amusement.

Valentine and Clarke didn't notice anything amiss with their discussion as they made casual conversation with Jenny. Their conversation was interrupted before Al could figure out what they were gossiping about by Thompson heading back towards them with three soldiers in tow. "1st Lieutenant Clarke, Sergeant Valentine, Alphonse Elric, please allow me to introduce the three soldiers on shift at this time," Thompson said as he came to a stop a few feet away from their group. "These are Sergeant Rick Beckler, Corporal Tiffany Joffrey and Lance-Corporal Luke Sanchez," Thompson said, gesturing to those he was introducing. "Also present are two diplomatic guests of Fuhrer Grumman. These are Hunk and his partner, Yellow," Thompson said, introducing the last two members of the groups. Beckler's, Joffrey's, and Sanchez's eyes bulged almost in unison when they spotted Yellow sitting next to Hunk and Al knew Hunk was struggling to keep his amusement in check as much as he was.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you," Clarke said, giving them a nod that Beckler, Joffrey, and Sanchez all returned.

"If you'll follow me, I believe our interview room may be just large enough to be utilised by all of us," Thompson said.

"I have no objections," Clarke assured him, while the rest of those from Central gave agreeing nods.

Thompson was quick to lead them down the hall he had just come back from – pausing only to request that Jenny hold onto any messages for them unless they were absolutely important. The interview room really wasn't big enough to for them to all be in there but somehow they managed to make it work so that even Yellow got a spot at the table that usually sat between a soldier and victim or suspect.

"Now, I am aware that you have all heard the rumours surrounding the reasons behind the diplomatic guests being in Amestris, yes?" Clarke asked. Despite the fact that their team was constantly referred to Al's, it was agreed that as the highest-ranking officer, Clarke would be taken the lead. Valentine, Al, and Hunk hadn't put up any arguments when Brookes told them that.

"A criminal escaped their custody when they unexpectantly appeared in Amestris and the military has been put on alert until this criminal is caught," Beckler said and Clarke gave him a nod.

"Yes," Clarke said. "My commanding officer has been asked to assist Brigadier-General Mustang and Lieutenant-Colonel Elric with their hunt for the war criminal known as Lotor," Clarke informed them. "We," she gestured to herself and the four who had travelled from Central with her, "were tasked with visiting one of the two towns we believe Lotor will be forced to pass through and working with those stationed there to ensure they're prepared for him," Clarke told them.

"We've seen the sketch released to the newspapers and heard the information released to the outposts," Joffrey said, obviously trying to be helpful and let them know what the soldiers in Keog knew to prevent them wasting time repeating it.

Clarke thanked him with a silent nod. "Alright," Clarke said as she placed her briefcase on the table and snapped open the clips. "Here's all the information we have been provided so far."

Because Al wasn't officially part of the military like Ed was, he'd never been allowed to attend mission briefings, aside from the ones that were strictly between Ed and Mustang. Fuhrer Bradley either hadn't bothered to try and convince his generals to allow Al to attend the more important mission briefings (even though he would be going with Ed on the mission) or he figured it didn't matter because Ed told him everything anyway so Al had never sat in on one. He'd always thought Ed had been being overdramatic when he complained about how long and boring each one was and how much he'd like to smack each higher-ranked officer over the head for asking a question that had been answered earlier but now he knew his brother had likely been underselling it.

Though he couldn't begrudge the four soldiers their curiousity, he felt like going outside and screaming when the meeting that really should've taken an hour at most passed over the two-hour mark. Thankfully for his sanity, the meeting only ran for another 40 minutes so he didn't end up having to find an excuse to escape the room and scream out his irritation. Once Lieutenant Clarke had packed away the files she'd brought with her, Thompson had once again suggested they get coffee and some late lunch. This time, his suggestion was taken onboard by all five of them and once he'd issued orders for his soldiers to take the notes written during the briefing and get them to the soldiers who weren't on duty so they wouldn't be hit with all that reading the moment they walked in for their shift.

Hunk, Yellow, and Al were walking a couple of metres behind Valentine and Clarke as they headed for the café Thompson had pointed them towards. "Aw man, I know I've already been here for pretty much four days but I am so excited for Earth food," Hunk said softly.

"Is space food that bad?" Al asked with a frown. He remembered Ed's description of the kinds of foods he'd eaten while with Voltron (the purple French toast was something his older brother would never let go) but Ed had never complained about the food.

"It's not bad," Hunk said. "I mean, food goo isn't that good but it's not uneatable," Hunk corrected himself before he continued, "but I can usually work with the supplies we get from planets to make something close enough to Earth food that it isn't really noticeable taste-wise," he told him. "But being able to eat a sandwich that hasn't had to have its 'bread' dunked in water first is just so good," he said.

"I completely forgot about Brother telling me about that," Al admitted, looking a little horrified at the reminder of the space-sandwiches. "He said Pidge made the mistake of not doing that one time?" Al asked and Hunk barked out some laughter.

"Yeah, she decided she didn't want to soak the space-bread first so she just threw all the ingredients together and called it a day," Hunk told him, a grin on his face as he recalled the memory. "The space-bread expanded in her stomach and made her feel so full that she ended up in the medbay and given some anti-indigestion tablets by a very unimpressed Coran before she was escorted to her room by an equally unimpressed Lance to sleep it off. We didn't see her for almost a day and a half and she ended up lectured by Allura since her decision to not wait a few seconds for the space-bread to soak put Voltron out of commission for a day and a half," Hunk explained. "That lecture from Allura is considered legendary and even Shiro and Keith were scared by it so much that no one ever considered going against my food preparation rules again," Hunk said, chuckles lacing his voice.

"From what Ed has told me about Princess Allura, I am not surprised to hear that," Al said, his own laughter obvious.

Their talk was put on hold when they reached the café and met their waitress. Once the waitress managed to calm down after meeting Yellow, they were given their seating options and unanimously chose to be seated outside so they could enjoy the sunshine and fresh air after being stuck in the car and outpost building for hours on end. After they were seated, their attention was strictly on the menus before Hunk and Yellow attracted the others' attention since Hunk was reading the menu options out loud so they could keep their telepathy a secret. Al had to give their waitress credit since she did come back to keep serving them despite how obviously nervous she was about Yellow.

The humans in the group made light chatter while Yellow simply enjoyed laying herself out in the sun and soaking it in. She also took the opportunity to speak with Ed and her sisters and catch up on what they were all doing. Ed, Havoc, Red, Blue, and their pilots had arrived in Metso only a few minutes after they'd arrived in Keog but their meetings were taking a little longer. Because the town was almost five times bigger than Keog, they had more higher-ups to meet, which meant more meetings and more questions. With how annoyed she'd sensed Al was getting during the meeting, Yellow could only hope that Ed was fairing better, though she knew she would likely be hearing many stories about how he'd nearly broken someone's nose when they were all back in Central.

"What's wrong?" Yellow's attention was grabbed by the worry in her human's voice and she sat up to find Al's keen eyes looking over her and into the sparsely wooded area behind the café.

"I thought I saw –" Al cut himself off with a gasp just as Yellow's keen ears picked up on the sound of careful footsteps behind her.

Getting to her feet quickly, Yellow could feel her hackles rise as she stared at the area she'd heard the footsteps in. She knew the others were on their feet, ready to move if need be, so she wasn't worried about trying to alert them. After a few tense moments, just when Yellow thought that maybe it had been some kind of animal or a false alarm entirely, she saw it. There was someone walking between the trees, trying to use them as cover. Despite the fact that he was strolling almost casually, dressed in clothing and knapsack that were obviously well used and not doing anything to draw more than a casual glance, Yellow couldn't stop staring at him suspiciously.

A familiar ringing slap sounded behind them and Yellow glanced back momentarily to see Al's eyes glowing electric blue with his arms out in front of him and palms facing the stranger. When Yellow looked back now that she knew Al was using Ed's tracking array, she noticed that the stranger was also watching them. To the random person, it would look as though the stranger was simply curious but Yellow could see the way their muscles had tensed the moment they heard the clap.

"He's not showing up for the array!" Al hissed to them, ending the array so he didn't waste more energy. "Only one person has ever been able to hide from Brother's array!" he told them. "That's Lotor!"

No one reacted for a heartbeat until Clarke and Valentine drew their weapons and aimed them directly for Lotor, moving themselves around the table they'd been seated at so they had a perfectly clear shot. "Stay right where you are and place your hands on your head!" Clarke barked, her blue eyes blazing dangerously at Lotor, who was still standing on the other side of the café's boundary fence.

Yellow swore she saw Lotor smirk before he took off through the trees, no longer bothering to follow the path as he had been. Clarke and Valentine didn't even hesitate to follow him as they tore after him, jumping the thigh-high fence with ease. "No, Lieut-!" Al started yelling, his arm reaching out as though to grab Clarke's military jacket. "Dammit!" the blonde swore as he raced after them, Yellow and Hunk not far behind him.

"Ed issued orders that Lotor was not to be approached, right?" Yellow asked Hunk as they leapt the fence themselves.

"Only to Al," Hunk said through their bond. "I don't think Ed really believed Lotor would show up in Keog," Hunk confessed.

"That's why he was so insistent on going to Metso," Yellow realised and Hunk gave a confirming hum in her mind. It was so obvious that Yellow groaned to herself for not realising it yesterday.

"Lotor! Stop!" Clarke shouted as she and Valentine kept their lead in the race to reach Lotor. As pretty much everyone expected, Lotor ignored them and continued running, clearly trying to get through the paddock they were currently running through so he could get to the denser woods beyond it and lose them.

"Lieutenant Clarke, stop!" Al called out but either Clarke didn't hear him or she was ignoring him because she didn't stop.

Lotor didn't slow down but Yellow saw him pull his knapsack off his shoulder without breaking stride and she got a bad feeling in her gut. "Hunk, he's gonna do something," Yellow told her human.

"Al! Yellow says he's up to something!" Hunk said, huffing slightly at the physical exertion.

Al swore as he forced himself to go faster. He'd seen the damage done to the trees in the clearing where Ed, Green, Yellow, Mustang, and Den had face Lotor. Even though Ed and Mustang had both shared their views on that fight to everyone, including Brookes' team, it seemed as though neither Clarke nor Valentine had remembered it. As they ran, Al tried to figure out what Lotor was up to while he tried to catch up with the two determined soldiers to try and stop them. He spared half a thought at being grateful that the paddock they were running through was a crop paddock – though it had obviously hadn't been used this season to give the soil a chance to recover – and not a livestock paddock. He didn't think any of them would've appreciated a bull or feral cow chasing after them as well.

It was the gleam of black that finally clued Al, Yellow and Hunk in on what Lotor was about to do and all three of them found themselves running faster than they had been. Yellow was the first to reach the two soldiers and had managed to pull Clarke off her feet while Al grabbed Valentine by the back of his jackets only moments before Lotor fired a shot from his blaster. Al and Yellow kept the two soldiers covered while Hunk pulled out his bayard and fired multiple shots from his shoulder cannon. To their annoyance, Lotor dodged each one with an almost bored expression on his face as he aimed at Hunk and fired a shot that – thankfully – the Yellow Paladin managed to avoid.

A ringing clap echoed throughout the paddock and Hunk saw Al slam his hands to the earth out of the corner of his eye as he fired retaliatory shots at Lotor. In a mimicry of what Ed had done in his fight against Lotor, Al sent a pair of earthen hands straight for the deranged alien prince. Just as had happened in Ed's fight, Lotor fired two shots rapidly at the approaching hands, destroying them with enough force that shards of hardened dirt flew everywhere, slicing up skin when it connected with flesh. Al heard a growl of annoyance from Lotor and saw the prince's pale blue eyes flash with irritation as he fired another shot – this time, it was aimed straight at Alphonse but Yellow was quick to knock him aside so the shot missed completely and ended up digging a trench in the dirt behind them.

Lotor didn't say a word to any of them during this fight, not even when Clarke and Valentine had found their feet again and were ordering him to stand down once more. Lotor simply sneered at them as he pulled out a palm-sized device and Al's eyes went wide as Lotor twisted it deftly, causing it to light up. "Everyone, get down!" Al ordered as Lotor threw the device at them before he sprinted for the woods.

Everyone did exactly as Al told them to do while Al clapped his hands together before he hit the dirt. Placing his hands on the earth under him, Al constructed a thick earthen dome to surround the device and just in time. The moment the blue alchemic energy had finished crackling over the dome, the earthen construction was ripped into dust by the explosive force inside it. Al let out a sigh of relief when he realised he'd managed to make the dome covering thick enough to prevent any of them being hurt but his relief was soon mixed with irritation when he realised Lotor had managed to escape into the wooded area ahead of them.

"Is everyone alright?" Al asked as he climbed to his feet and shook out his limbs, trying to rid himself of the lingering adrenaline.

"I'm okay," Hunk said before he made a show of checking Yellow over. "So is Yellow," he announced and Al nodded.

"I'm alright," Clarke said, rubbing a line of blood of her cheek from a shallow cut.

"So am I," Valentine announced though Al thought he was holding his wrist a little oddly. Valentine noticed him and his shoulders drooped slightly. "I think a sprained my wrist, though it's just a light sprain," Valentine said, trying to assure them.

"We'll wrap your wrist when we're back at the café," Al promised him. He glanced out at the thick woods before he faced the group once more. "Let's head back. We've probably got some explaining to do to the Keog soldiers," Al said, moving towards the café when Clarke stopped him with a protesting noise.

"We aren't going after him? The trail's fresh!" she exclaimed before looking a little startled that she did so.

"We cannot go up against him and hope to win," Al informed her. "This little scuffle proved that! Brother told me we wouldn't be able to win against him and while I understand that it's trained into you guys to chase after a suspect if they flee, if you had just waited for me to speak at the café, I would've told you that Ed didn't want us trying to confront Lotor unless all the teams were together because he's that dangerous," Al told her.

Both Clarke and Valentine looked a little stunned and ashamed. "We apologise, Alphonse," Clarke said. "I wasn't aware of those orders and I hope you know that I wouldn't have instigated the pursuit if I had known," Clarke said and Al gave her a nod.

"I know," Al assured her. "I'm gonna make sure Brother knows that he needs to tell you guys this kind of thing before we're in this sort of situation again," Al said, more to himself than the others before he sighed when Clarke spoke again.

"That would've been helpful but you are the team lead for this mission," Clarke said. "I may be the highest ranked officer here but Lieutenant-Colonels Elric and Brookes made it clear that we were supposed to follow your lead. Sergeant Valentine and I should have waited for your orders before we went after Lotor," Clarke told him.

"We're sorry we didn't," Valentine said, making sure he got his own apology in.

"Seriously, don't worry about it," Al said. "You guys reacted because of your training. Any other time or criminal, the call would've been up to you, Lieutenant Clarke, because of your being the highest rank. I'm just a civilian and you're both trained to only listen to civilians if they're in danger," Al pointed out. "I'm really not mad and I'll make sure Brother understands that this was partly his fault as well. Neither of you are to blame here," Al promised. "Let's just head back to the café. I'm hungry after that chase," Al complained, causing Hunk and Yellow to chuckle, and – more importantly – stopping any further argument from Clarke or Valentine in its tracks.

"You can't half tell that you're related to Ed, can you?" Hunk asked rhetorically. Al's responding glower was what caused Clarke and Valentine to stop looking like they were expecting to get lectured for their decision.

"Zip it," Al snapped venomlessly, his own eyes twinkling slightly to show Hunk he wasn't trying to be mean.

Hunk's laughter sounded once more behind Al as he led them back to the café, pausing only to mend the damage done to the paddock they'd battled in. He knew Yellow would've told Ed and her sisters what had happened – if only because they would've sensed it anyway – so he knew he'd likely have to deal with an overprotective older brother when they were back in Central. Knowing this, Al made the decision to enjoy a relaxing, if late, lunch before he started figuring out what Ed was likely to do and/or say and ways he could counter it so Clarke and Valentine would come out of the experience with minimal guilt. After all, like he had told Clarke, it wasn't like Ed had actually issued the order for them to leave Lotor alone if the group encountered him.

"I have decided that what happened with your team means that no one is allowed to say I'm the trouble-magnet out of the two of us," Ed informed everyone who was currently inside Mustang's outer office, "because if it were true, Lotor would've been in Metso, not Keog," he said, brow raised in a silent dare for someone to argue with him.

Because Lotor had been in Keog and Ed had been informed immediately of his appearance, Ed had been able to ask Black to have Shiro tell Mustang or Hawkeye to call the Metso outpost and give him the news about Lotor so no one could question how they knew. Well, he'd done so after he'd finished cursing Lotor out in every language he knew then cursing Al out for fighting against Lotor when he'd explicitly told him not to do that. Ed had felt a little guilty when Yellow had given him the full and detailed story of what had happened while she was walking with Al and the others back to the café but that hadn't stopped him from muttering expletives every now and then while he waited for the arranged phone call. Both Keith and Lance had looked mildly impressed while Havoc looked like he was both used to and amused by Ed's behaviour. Both Lions had taken a look at each other and unanimously decided to just let Ed get it out of his system.

"Oh no, you are definitely the trouble-magnet still, Brother," Al informed him. "The only reason Lotor wound up in Keog is because you were hoping he'd end up in Metso. The universe couldn't prove you right," Al told him.

"Have either of you considered that both of you are trouble-magnets?" Lance asked curiously.

Ed and Al exchanged a look. "You're probably right," Ed said as he flopped himself down into one of the extra chairs someone – he suspected Fuery and probably Breda – were ordered to bring in for the Paladins to use whenever they were all in Mustang's office.

"What happened in Keog? Shiro didn't give us many details since Yellow said you would explain," Mustang asked, looking between Al and Hunk curiously. Both Valentine and Clarke had returned to their offices after being reassured by Ed that he didn't blame them for their actions and had apologised for not ensuring they'd been given the orders not to pursue Lotor. Al obliged Mustang and told them in detail what had happened. Aside from the minor cuts caused by the shards of what had been alchemised earthen hands suffered by Hunk, Al, and Clarke, the only other injuries were Valentine's sprained wrist and Clarke's bruised side from where Yellow had tackled her. "Which way was he heading before your fight?" Mustang asked.

"North," Al told him. "I think he's definitely planning on entering Central," he told them, getting nods of agreement from everyone.

"It would be his best bet at keeping on top of information and finding either you guys," Ed gestured to Voltron, "or an alchemist to help him back to your universe," Ed said.

"He could be looking for material to fix his ship," Shiro added. "His ship was made of strong material since the Lions barely scratched it with their lasers but unless Lotor was able to recover from the fall through the rift quicker than we had, he would've landed far more harshly than we did. His ship wasn't a Lion so it couldn't control where and how it landed without his input," Shiro pointed out. "Your world may not have the same materials as what his ship is made out of but it could be possible that what you do have could be used as a temporary band-aid, if you will."

"Well, if he is then we'll issues alerts to every store in Central who could stoke things he could utilise or repurpose for his needs," Mustang said, nodding to Hawkeye. Ed knew that meant that as soon as she could, Hawkeye would be putting together a list of such stores to notify. "There were no injuries? Lotor's stun grenade didn't affect any of you?" Mustang asked.

"Only minor injuries and I don't think it was a stun grenade," Al admitted. "Hunk said that Yellow's hearing wasn't affected and even though I covered it with the earthen dome, if it was a stun grenade like what was used against Brother, Green, Yellow, and Den, Yellow should've felt some affect from the blast, hearing-wise," Al told them.

"So you think it was -?" Ed started to ask and Al nodded.

"He either used a normal grenade or a flash bang, like what Old Man Fu gave you, Darius, and Ling to help free me from Pride," Al confirmed. "I'm leaning more towards the flash bang since it wasn't as powerful as I'd expect a grenade from that world to be," Al admitted and Ed nodded in agreement with his thought.

"I doubt he would've used something as powerful as a grenade against the five of you when he's likely got a limited number of weapons at his disposal right now," Ed said. "He'd save his more powerful weapons for the real fight."

"Well that sounds comforting," Havoc muttered darkly, causing a couple of those in the room to chuckle slightly.

"What happened in Metso, Fullmetal?" Mustang asked.

"Fucking nothin'," Ed told him, garnering a few bouts of laughter in response and an unimpressed look from Mustang. "Seriously," Ed said. "Aside from meeting a lieutenant-colonel who I will likely stab the next time I'm forced to be near him, the mission went smoothly. Up until Yellow told me Lotor was in Keog and that Al and his team had fought against him," Ed told him.

"Do I want to know?" Mustang asked Havoc, who grinned but shook his head. "Well, I'll admit that I thought I'd be hearing Fullmetal bitching Lotor out for escaping him once more, not Alphonse, but I'm pleased I won't have to be submitting reports to Fuhrer Grumman about having to payout civilians for property damage," Mustang said, smirking at Ed.

Ed simply flipped him off. "Speaking of Grumman, does anyone know if he's gotten Lambert's report regarding Buckley?" he asked, ignoring the smirk on Mustang's face that had widened in response to his reaction.

"I'm not sure, Ed," Hawkeye told him.

"Well, if you don't know, they probably don't," Ed said, gesturing to Havoc, Falman, Fuery, and Breda, "and he sure as shit won't," he added, pointing his thumb at Mustang, who made an offended noise that Ed ignored. "Do you know if Lambert's next door still?" he asked.

"I haven't been told that she isn't," Hawkeye told him, mirth in her eyes as they both pretended not to notice Mustang's glower. No one else was bothering to hide their amusement, though Al's was mixed with exasperation.

"Cool, I'm gonna see if Grumman's told her anything," Ed said, getting up out of his chair and moving backwards to the outer office door. "Do you guys want me to grab coffee on my way back?" he asked and immediately regretted his offer when everyone said yes. "Right. Al, you coming?" he asked and got a nod. "I need at least two more humans to come with me to help carry the coffee back," Ed said.

"Hunk and Keith can go if they want," Shiro said before finding himself on the receiving end of Lance's pout. "All of them can go if they want," he amended, getting a blazing grin from Lance in response. He was just grateful Pidge was in Mustang's inner office, too distracted by Ed's tablet to make her displeasure at not having been originally included known.

"Awesome," Ed said, opening the door and letting the Lions out of the room first. Black had obviously decided she was going with Ed while Green was staying behind with her human, though she made sure Ed knew it was a hard decision. "We'll be back eventually," Ed said as Al and the three Paladins headed to join the Lions.

"Stay out of trouble," Mustang ordered.

"I've literally made it my entire mission for the length of my military career to ignore whatever you order me to do. Why should I start listening now?" Ed asked before he shut the door, making sure his grin was the last thing Mustang saw before he did so.

"Do you have to -?" Al started to ask but Ed cut him off as they moved the few feet down the hall towards Lambert's office.

"Yes," Ed said with a nod. "No matter what you were about to ask regarding that comment, the answer is very likely gonna be a 'yes'," he told him, making his younger brother scowl with annoyance. Knocking on the door, Ed was quickly permitted entrance. "Hey, guys," Ed greeted as he held the door open for everyone else to enter.

"Ed," Lambert said, sounding rather surprised to see him in her office. "Al, Voltron," she greeted, nodding her towards them. "What can I do for you?" she asked.

"I was wondering if you've sent Grumman your report regarding Buckley and whether you know his response to it?" Ed asked as the Lions took it upon themselves to approach the rest of Lambert's team to say hello to them as best they could.

Lambert gave him a smile as she held up the thin file she'd been about to hand Greene. "I was just about to send it to him actually," she told them. "He hadn't said it was a matter of great importance but that he would like it before the end of business today," Lambert explained.

"We can take it for you," Ed offered. "We kinda need to know what he has to say about it because Generals Dickhead and Douchenozzle chucked a fit about Yellow and Blue helping with arrest," Ed explained.

"Ah, of course they did," Lambert said, her lips curling with displeasure. "I'm sure Lieutenant Greene doesn't mind you handling this task," Lambert said, holding the file out for Ed to take.

"You won't hear me fight you for it," Greene said, giving Ed a playful grin that the blonde returned.

"I'd win anyways," Ed said cockily, making Greene let out a bark of laughter. "Thanks for this, Lambert," Ed said, waving the file slightly.

"No problem at all, Edward," she assured him with a pleasant smile.

"We'll let you get back to work," Ed said before looking around at the Lions. "Let's head to Grumman's office and get this matter resolved," Ed said, gesturing with a nod of his head for them to leave the office now. "See you guys later," Ed said, waving his empty hand as he waited for everyone with him to get back into the hallway.

"Bye, guys. Have a good afternoon," Lambert said, her sentiments echoed by everyone else still in the room.

Ed grinned at them before he shut the door. Flipping the file so it was held against his side, lessening the risk of him accidentally dropping it or the papers in it, Ed gestured for everyone to follow him. "We'll head to the mess hall after this and get coffee from there," he told them. "I hope one of you know how Shiro and Pidge take theirs," Ed said to the Paladins with him.

"Yeah, we know," Keith assured him.

"So did you offer to take that file to Grumman out of the goodness of your heart or is there an ulterior motive at play? Because I'm certain Grumman would've told you or someone on your team his decision tomorrow, if he didn't catch or call anyone after he'd read the report," Lance said, a smirk on his face.

"Oh, I offered out of the goodness of my heart, of course," Ed said, pretending to be offended that Lance even asked. "However, if two certain generals happened to be there or called in by Grumman to hear his decision while we were there and I got to let out some of my annoyance at how today went on them, well I'd simply consider it a bonus," Ed told them, his faux innocent tone fooling no one.

"I'm honestly surprised you didn't ask one of your teammates to tip Widdon or Combes off," Red said.

"I considered it," Ed admitted, "but I figured they'd realise something was up if one of my teammates called them to pass on some gossip. Unfortunately, they aren't quite that stupid," Ed told her, sounding annoyed that Widdon and Combes weren't that dumb.

"You're not going to start anything, right, Brother?" Al asked, not sounding hopeful.

"Of course not," Ed told him. "I promised Grumman that I wouldn't be completely insubordinate towards them, after all," Ed reminded him and Al looked relieved. "However, if they start shit, I can't guarantee what I'd do," Ed told him, making that relieved expression disappear from Al's face.

"I hope they had the day off," Al muttered. "I don't want to have to bail you out of jail before you're even 18," Al told him.

"Maybe it wasn't a good idea to say that, Alphonse," Lance said, a grin playing on his lips. "He might take it as a challenge," he told the younger of the two alchemists.

"That is not a challenge!" Al hissed immediately at his brother.

"Don't worry, Alphonse," Ed chuckled, his laughter mixing with Lance's, Keith's and Hunk's. "I have no plans on being caught for what I do to them," Ed informed him.

"That doesn't make me worry less, just so you know," Al muttered, though his grumbling was ruined by his own mirth.

"How about we actually see if there's a need for you to bail me out before you start planning it, hm?" Ed suggested.

"I've been planning it for years, Brother," Alphonse informed him, tone flat. His remark set them all off on another round of laughter and had Ed enduring teasing remarks from the four Lions, all of which he answered with a roll of his eyes. He was just happy Al was finally comfortable enough with his friends to start showing his real self rather than just allowing snippets to shine through his mask.

"Well this seems to line up pretty much with everything you told me yesterday, Edward," Grumman said as he closed the file Ed had handed him twenty minutes previous.

"Of course it did," Ed said, completely unsurprised. "Widdon and Combes wouldn't know how to report the truth to you about me to save their lives," he said seriously.

Grumman's lips twitched slightly at the corners but that was the only sign of amusement he showed. "I'm not going to comment on that," Grumman told him, a half-grin on his face when Ed whined slightly. "However, what I will say is that the Lions are free to accompany you, their humans, or trusted soldiers without any restraints or containment, just as I promised they would when you introduced them to us," Grumman told Ed, though he made sure to address them all as he spoke.

"Thanks, Grumman," Ed said, sitting up in the armchair he'd been slumped in.

"Thank you, Fuhrer Grumman," Lance said, bowing slightly. "We're sorry we were the cause for this whole fiasco," Lance said. Grumman and Al were the only ones that looked slightly surprised at him taking the lead.

"It's not your fault," Grumman told him. "That goes for all of you who were involved," he added. "This is just yet another unfortunate example of two generals who suffer from an extreme case of…" he trailed off as he mused over the phrases he could use.

"Pettiness and the inability to accept they had their arses metaphorically handed to them by a 17-year-old over four months ago?" Ed offered graciously.

"I was going to say, 'extreme case of inflated egos and a gross overestimate of where they stand with the military'," Grumman said dryly as Lance, Hunk, Keith and Al struggled valiantly to keep their amusement at bay. None of the Lions were bothering since Grumman couldn't hear them but their cackles were adding to their human's struggles.

"That works too," Ed said, shrugging a shoulder, not bothering to hide his grin.

"I think your description suited them better," Blue commented with a slight huff.

"Thank you. So do I but I guess Grumman's is more diplomatic," Ed said through their bond with a small grin.

Grumman gave them all an amused look before his neutral expression was back in place. "I don't want to make any of you overly cautious but I would like to make sure that you all understand that my decision here is going to irritate the two generals further," Grumman said soberly. "I have no doubt in my mind that they will try something like this again while you are here. I highly doubt they will do something as obvious as attack you on base or in the public's eye but I cannot stress enough that you need to be wary of them," he told them, looking at Ed in particular. "They didn't get to the rank of major-general for no reason. I admittedly have no idea how they earned their promotions but I'm inclined to think money found its way to the right hand," Grumman divulged. "There's no proof of course but still. That could mean they know dangerous people and aren't worried about being caught," Grumman told them.

"I might be able to make Mustang open an investigation into them sooner than we planned," Ed offered. "If they're worried about me and Mustang looking into them, they might be distracted enough from Voltron to stop interfering and creating these ridiculous issues," Ed said.

"That's between you and General Mustang," Grumman told him. "You and he have my permission to open an investigation into the two generals whenever you want," Grumman reminded him. "However, you would still need to watch yourselves in the meantime. Don't stop your investigation and don't change the way you act but try to keep in mind that those two will be angry with my decision and it could cause them to try something as desperate as they had when Belmont was arrested," Grumman warned them. "I will do my best to make sure they remember that they are still on probation for the next two months so are on thin enough ice that they really can't risk making baseless accusations but I have a feeling it won't stop them for long," Grumman confessed.

"Don't worry, Grumman," Ed said. "We've gone up against them before in this sort of situation and we'll do it again if we have to. Especially if Amestris is on the line," Ed assured him, his tone completely serious and full of confidence.

"I know you will," Grumman said, giving him a smile. "However, your comment about Amestris has given the opportunity to segue into a query I have," Grumman said, straightening in his chair a little. "How did your missions in the search for Lotor go today?' he asked.

Ed sighed slightly, causing Grumman to look a little intrigued while Lance, Keith, Hunk, and Al shared a small smirk. "Al can tell you about his mission but here's what happened in Metso."

A/N - This one's a bit late and I do apologise for that but yeah, here it is. Thank you to those who wrote a review on the last chapter and I'm sorry to those of you, if any, who were waiting for the chapter to come up. I hope you enjoyed it and I'll see you next week.