Lance snuck as quietly as he could down the stairs and through the hall to the kitchen. He knew which spots on the floor would creak if he stepped on them and where to crouch down and make himself as small as possible if anyone passed by. But no one interfered, no one showed up to stop him and he was perfectly silent on his bare feet. So, when he made it to the threshold, he saw what he had come for. On the yellow topped counter sat a perfectly ripe red and orange fruit.

Still remembering to be cautious, he crept up to the counter slowly, watching the other entrance for moving shadows. Once he had arrived at the counter however, his attention went solely to how to get to the fruit. He couldn't actually see over the countertop as his brows and above were all that cleared it.

He got on his tiptoes and tried reaching one arm as far across the cold surface as he could get it, stretching his fingers out and feeling for anything. It wasn't enough. He stepped back a bit and jumped to see if he had the location right. It was still there, looking juicy and delicious.

He decided on a different tactic. He went over to the kitchen table to get one of the chairs. The chairs were also too big for him and when he tried lifting one he realized that wood is actually quite heavy. He thought for a moment before ducking under the table to get to the other side of the chair so that he could push it toward its destination.

He put his hands against the side of the seat and put his weight into it. The chair squeaked into motion at his force, something under one of the legs having scratched the hardwood floor. Lance immediately stopped, his eyes going as big as saucers as he froze in place and listened with his heart pounding.

After waiting for nearly a full minute, he concluded that no one must have heard him. As such, he scooted the chair the rest of the way to the counter, heedless of the line he was leaving along the way.

Just as he had climbed up onto the chair and retrieved his prize, there was a knock on what must have been the front door to the house, scaring him out of his skin.

Lance stayed where he was on the chair, unable to move as there was movement through the house and the front door was opened. He heard his father greet some people and ask them to come in and make themselves comfortable. He heard his mother leading them to the other side of the house and offering them drinks and food. As they walked by, Lance made eye contact with one of two large men he had never seen before.

"Hey, what's the kid doing here?" he asked in a gruff and irritated voice. Lance felt himself panicking but he still couldn't move.

"Mijito!" his mother spotted him and her face went from shocked to angry.

His father ushered the men to keep going and Lance felt a little bit of relief when he could no longer see them.

"What are you—" she stopped herself mid-sentence in her anger and turned to call up the stairs. "Marco!"

"What is it, mamá?" Marco called back.

"Come get your brother and put him back in bed!" she ordered.

A door opened upstairs and footsteps tapped rhythmically as they descended the staircase.

"I can't believe you're still awake! You should have been asleep an hour ago!" she lectured him with her hands on her hips. "And what are you doing standing on a chair?! What were you getting into?!"

Marco came into the kitchen and grinned at Lance the way he always did, like nothing could ever go wrong. "It's alright, mamá. I've got this," he told her in his soft and smooth voice.

He came to Lance and scooped him up into his arms and then placed him on one of his hips. He grabbed the chair by its back with his other hand and lifted it with ease to put it back in place at the table.

"And make sure Verónica is getting ready for bed now, she should also go to sleep!" she huffed as he carried Lance past her, stopping to kiss her cheek along the way.

"Don't worry, mamá. They'll be asleep before you know it," he reassured her.

Their mother's whole demeanor changed and she sighed like she was tired but thankful. "Ay, mijo, you'll be such a good father someday. You better give me lots of grandchildren!" she insisted.

Marco laughed in a warm and calming way. "If you say so, how could I refuse?" he grinned.

"Hey!" she stopped him from going further. "I said someday, not today, got it?"

Lance circled his arms more securely around his oldest brother's neck and buried his face into Marco's shoulder. Marco pat his back and gave his mother a smile once more. "Wouldn't dream of it!"

Marco carried Lance up the stairs and to his room. He stopped in front of the door and whispered to Lance who was still clinging to him, "You better hope mamá doesn't notice that scratch before I have a chance to fix it."

Lance couldn't help the smile on his face and he giggled into Marco's neck. He absolutely loved Marco. Whereas his other older brother and sister would often tell on him if he did anything of offense, Marco would protect him and swear he did nothing wrong with his dying breath.

Marco pushed the door open and they heard Verónica intake a sharp breath followed by the rustling of her covers. As soon as Lance looked over, Marco put him down, to Lance's disappointment.

"I definitely caught you. You were reading up there weren't you," Marco pointed out as he stepped on the frame of Lance's bunk so that he could fold his arms over the frame of the top bunk.

Verónica stayed still, pretending to be sleeping.

"Why'd you let Lance out?" he asked. Still no response. Lance followed Marco and climbed up the ladder until he could also see his sister.

"I know you're awake, Verónica."

Lance pulled at her covers until they were mostly off of her but she still didn't move.

Marco spotted her book. "I could always look at what you were reading." He went to grab the book but Verónica sprang into action and swiped it away before he managed to peek at the title. He smirked at her knowing he had caught her.

"Marco! Just leave me alone!" she cried.

He laughed, clearly amused. "How about this, I won't tell mamá that you've been reading books you're too young for if you go to bed and make sure Lance stays in bed too," he offered.

"Fine!" Verónica quickly stuffed the book between the edge of her mattress and her bed frame, trying to make sure it was out of Marco's reach.

"What were you reading?" Lance asked, having no clue at all what a 'book you're too young for' could possibly entail.

"Nothing!" Verónica insisted to him, looking maybe just a bit embarrassed.

Marco chuckled again and hopped down. He reached out for Lance and Lance gladly reciprocated expecting Marco to hold him again, only for Marco to just be helping him down to the floor.

"Alright, Verónica, go brush your teeth," Marco instructed. "And Lance, back in bed." He knelt down and pulled back Lance's covers for him to get in.

Lance started complying but spoke at the same time. "Marco, who were those men?" he asked.

Verónica stopped halfway down the ladder, her ears perking up, and she jumped the rest of the way to the floor. "What men?"

"Some big scary guys are in the house," Lance told her.

Her eyes widened.

"Now wait," Marco tried to calm them down. "They're nothing scary, they're just other Cubans like us, okay? Even you two can seem scary when you're grumpy," he poked Lance and Verónica on their foreheads. Lance giggled but Verónica frowned.

"But who are they?" she asked.

"It's nothing for the two of you to worry about. Mamá and papá would never let anyone in they didn't trust. So get to sleep!"

That was enough for Lance to crawl into bed but Verónica stayed where she was stubbornly.

"Verónica," Marco said in a warning tone. "Go brush your teeth and then get in bed."

She lingered a moment longer before reluctantly making her way to the door. "I can't wait until I have my own room," she said under her breath.

"What was that?" Marco asked having heard her. "You'll have to wait a long time for that one!" he laughed.

Verónica turned with her hands on her hips and a victorious smirk on her lips. "Shows what you know! Mamá said that when I'm twelve, she'll clear out her sowing room for me!"

Marco's usual jovial face dropped. "Wait, I'm the oldest, if anyone should get their own room, it should be me," he insisted like he really was just their brother and not their parent.

Lance eyed the door. He could tell this would turn into a full-on argument.

"Mamá said it's because I'm the only girl, so I should get my own room!"

"You can get your own room when I move out," Marco changed his expression again as he thought of something. "I've still got a few years before you turn twelve, that's plenty of time for me to convince her," he said more to himself.

"What! Marco, no!" she whined in response.

"That's right!" Marco was back to all smiles as he picked her up and started carrying her over his shoulder toward the bathroom. She protested and made enough noise that Marco covered her mouth as he took her down the hall.

Seeing his opportunity, Lance put the peach he had snuck under his blanket and crept to the door of his room. He looked both ways, first toward the bathroom door where he could see the light was on and then to his older brothers' room to make sure Luís wasn't about to appear because of the commotion. Coast clear enough for Lance, he tiptoed down only the top few steps of the stairs until he could see the couch the two strangers were sitting on, but not far down enough that he could see their faces. As long as he couldn't see them, they couldn't see him. He held onto the railing and tried to listen for what they were saying.

"We can get you three more crates by Tuesday, but anymore than that..." one of the men trailed off.

"What can you do by the end of next week?" he heard his father ask.

"Like I said before, we have to make another run. It takes time and it takes money. We pull too much at once, you know what could happen to us," the other man took over, crossing his arms and looking closed off.

"Sounds like they're smugglers," Lance heard whispered right next to his ear. Lance jumped, scared so badly he almost peed.

It was Luís sitting on the top step looking down the stairs strangely.

"What's a smuggler?" Verónica whispered as she too came to join them. They all heard Marco sigh from behind her.

Verónica squished herself tightly behind Lance on the same step and looked through the bars trying to see their odd house guests.

"Luís!" Marco whispered exasperatedly. He gave Luís a dirty look.

"What?" Luís looked offended. "You think I'm wrong?"

"No, but," Marco gestured to Lance and Verónica.

Verónica looked back at them. "What's a smuggler?" she repeated.

Marco put his face in his hand while Luís was eager to answer. "A smuggler is a criminal who takes drugs from one place to another to make tons of money."

At this point in his life, Lance did not know what drugs were but he did know what a criminal was, so he had a sour feeling that drugs were no good at all.

As Lance's eyes grew increasingly wide the more he thought about it, Verónica pulled Lance closer to her.

"Okay, nope! Stop it!" Marco chided Luís and he came down and scooped both Lance and Verónica into his lap. The two children clung to their eldest brother. "Smugglers don't only smuggle drugs," he said pointedly at Luís. "These ones bring in food mostly, and also medical supplies."

"Medical supplies? So drugs." Luís never could miss an opportunity to push Marco's buttons and test his patience.

Marco huffed in an annoyed way. "Try bandages and gauze," he threw back.

Luís held his hands up in surrender, probably only because he knew if he pushed any further, they'd start yelling and then all of them would get caught.

The thing was, the idea of smuggling food and medicine did sound a lot less scary to Lance, but the fact that they were still criminals kept him uneasy. You could get in really big trouble for being a criminal if you got caught, that much Lance knew. So if his parents got caught asking them all of these questions he didn't understand completely, what would happen to them? Would they be criminals too?

He leaned his head back on Marco's chest and looked up at his beloved brother, the only sibling of his he knew would never lie to him. "Marco, why are mamá and papá asking the smugglers to get stuff for them? Are mamá and papá also criminals?"

Marco blinked down at Lance with a complicated expression that furrowed his brows and bit his lip. He inhaled as if about to speak but then stopped himself. He looked away from Lance's imploring blue eyes before starting again.

"Listen, some things are difficult to explain simply. Mamá and papá are trying to do what's best for our community. Not everyone has a good job like papá. Food is expensive and a lot of families can't always feed themselves." He took a breath and turned back to Lance. "Papá says that to be a good man you have to help others. He says that risking your own safety for the sake of others is how you become an adult. They're not doing this for selfish reasons. They're doing this so that the kids you play with down the street have something to eat and so that the abuela across from us who likes to give you candy, can get better if she gets sick. Sometimes doing the right thing can be a crime. And sometimes we have to do the right thing even if it's dangerous."

Those words flickered into Lance's heart as he set them to memory. He'd remember those words as they were branded on his chest. He'd remember the way Marco's lips moved as he said them, the inflections in his voice, serious and with a hint of passion hidden behind the careful calm he tried to display.

Lance was no longer afraid of the grizzly looking men in his living room, nor was he afraid for himself as he thought about how he wanted to help people too, but he couldn't help the pit of anxiousness in his stomach at the thought of his parents doing something so dangerous and the same for Marco. If Marco knew what was going on, he was old enough that he could probably be helping too.

As Marco carried him and Verónica to bed, letting his forehead be kissed and his hair ruffled by Luís, he clung to his favorite person without ever wanting to let go.

Marco eventually peeled him off and tucked him into bed. Lance stared at the bottom of the top bunk for what felt like forever before rooting around under his covers for the peach he'd hidden there. He held it in both hands wondering for the first time where it had come from.

Lance and Keith ran to the bridge. No more racing and laughing, both were back to frowning as they sped through the doors to find only Allura and Coran were there yet. Allura was at the helm imputing something into the console with a very bad look on her face. Coran was hovering over her and pleading with her to wait for just a tick longer.

At the sound of the doors whooshing open Coran looked over at them and gave them a pinched expression.

"What's going on?" Keith asked them.

At hearing Keith's voice Allura paused her fingers and turned with a sudden smile only for it to disappear again when she noticed Keith was with Lance. Ouch.

Keith paid no attention to that and where Lance stopped a distance away, Keith went straight up to Allura, pulling her eyes back to him.

"We're going with the original plan. We'll capture the Prince to lure Zarkon out," she said looking up at Keith's eyes.

"What happened to asking the Blade about him?" he asked.

"I did," Coran piped up. "The Princess used her access codes to listen to my meeting with Kolivan from her room. Clearly she came to her own conclusions before we could all discuss what was said," he looked at the Princess in question pointedly.

"You did what?" Lance asked, completely shocked that she'd go this far.

Allura completely ignored him and grabbed Keith's hand in both of hers, holding it to her chest. "Keith, I really think this is for the best. The Prince has been conquering planets in Zarkon's name for years. Not only would capturing him help us get to Zarkon, but we would finally have physical proof to all of the peoples the Galra have hurt that we can and will bring the Galra to justice," she assured him.

Lance swiftly got between the two and broke their hands apart with a downward stroke of his arm. "Don't just ignore me, Princess!" Their hands together boiled his blood even more than being ignored. "What do you plan on doing with the Prince really?! Will you hang him?!"

"Wait!" Keith placed a hand on Lance's chest and moved him aside so that he could look at Allura properly again.

Lance was ready to argue with him too but Keith quickly went on.

"What did Kolivan say?" he asked.

Lance looked back to Allura thinking that maybe Keith was using a better tactic than Lance's fly-off-the-rails strategy after all.

"Exactly what I just said," she insisted.

"No. Was there something else?" he persisted.

The doors to the bridge whooshed back open again and Lance looked over to see Pidge followed not all that far behind by Hunk. Both of them looked at the scene in front of them and stopped short of getting too close.

"Allura," Keith said when she averted her eyes. She tried to hold out on saying any more, but perhaps because it was Keith who was asking, she couldn't for very long.

"There... may have been more," she admitted.

"So what did he say?" Lance asked without leaving a beat.

"I asked if he knew of a Prince, half Galran, half something else," Coran supplied. "Kolivan said that Zarkon did have a half-breed son and that Zarkon raised him with the intent of making him his heir. That Prince's name was Lotor and Zarkon put him in charge of conquering worlds with specific resources. He was put in charge of overseeing the mining operations."

"See!" Allura interjected.

"Wait, I'm not finished yet," Coran spoke before she could continue. "The rumor is that for some reason, it's not known what the reason is, Zarkon did not like the job Lotor was doing. Zarkon punished him by exiling him from the Empire and he hasn't been seen or heard from much since."

Lance turned to Allura with his hands on his hips. "That doesn't seem so cut and dry to me."

Allura looked confused. "I'm not quite certain what that idiom means, but what I said is still true. He did conquer planets in Zarkon's name."

"But we don't know why Zarkon exiled him!" Hunk came up by Lance's side. Lance felt a boost of confidence in his position with Hunk's agreeance.

Allura addressed Hunk, "But we know that he was doing Zarkon's dirty work oppressing people and forcing them to work in mines."

"But we don't know that, we only know that he was assigned to do that and that Zarkon didn't like whatever he actually did! Enough to exile him for it!" Hunk threw back. Lance nodded vigorously at his best friend's point.

"Kolivan did say that information on the Prince was very scarce. Zarkon wanted to erase his son from his legacy," Coran informed them.

Allura let out a long breath through her nose with her teeth clenched tightly. She looked back at Keith, pleading with her eyes. Keith looked like he had no idea what to do. Lance looked at him too with a glared, daring him to side with her.

"Hey!" Pidge shouted from behind the party. They all turned to look at her. She was scowling but no one was sure quite why. "The only way to find out what happened is to ask the Prince himself, right?"

Everyone stayed silent, only staring at her.

"Well?" she asked and gestured to the space outside the window. "Should we go ask him?"

"I suppose number five has a point here," Coran twirled his mustache in thought.

"But... It's too dangerous to simply ask him!" Allura insisted. "We should capture him and liberate the planet, then we can ask him. The planet has the ore we need to fix the Castle. If we liberate them, perhaps we can then make a deal."

"You should also know that the Princess just sent a message to the Blade of Marmora instructing them to meet us within fighting range of the Prince," Coran spoke without a second thought toward Allura's pride.

All of the paladins turned incredulous eyes toward her.

"You don't think that's something you should have at least asked us about?" Pidge came up beside Hunk.

Allura was trying to avoid eye contact like she knew she had done something wrong. "Do you want to go after the Prince or not? Please make up your mind," Allura told her instead.

The Garrison trio intensified their looks at the Princess, crowding her in a more intimidating move than any of them could have pulled off alone. The Princess tried backing away from them but she was too near the console to get any distance. She kept up her best effort in avoiding all eye contact, but for once in quite a while, the three were in sync again.

"Allura," Lance began.

"Stop it!" Keith suddenly got between the three and Allura. He scowled at them like he had the authority to reprimand their behavior.

"You don't have to—" Allura started to say but cut herself off with an upset look at her feet. She resigned herself to something and with teary eyes, hid her face between Keith's shoulder blades.

At seeing Allura's odd closeness with Keith, Pidge and Hunk glanced at each other, communicating a what the hell? Not because it was wrong, but because it was odd. And because... Hunk quickly checked Lance. Lance was glaring a hole through Keith's chest, perhaps trying to take Keith and Allura out in one shot. But then Lance looked Keith in the face with an expression of utter betrayal.

"Keith!" Lance yelled incredulously.

"Guys, we need to think this through," Keith told them.

"Tell that to Allura!"

"Lance has a point, Keith! She's the one doing things without thinking! Stop protecting her and don't tell us off!" Pidge asserted.

"No, wait, don't yell," Keith put a hand in his hair and looked down. "I'm trying to— Just let me think."

Knowing that neither would respect Keith's request, Hunk put a hand on Lance and Pidge's shoulders. They looked up at him but Hunk studied Keith's contemplative expression first before giving them a quiet "Wait, guys."

They waiting for Keith's next move. He took a while before he looked back at the three with a set brow. Had he decided something?

"How many Galra ships were in orbit around the planet?"

Pidge blinked. "None," she answered.

"Okay, what about Galra bases on the surface? Communication towers?"

"There weren't any," Hunk supplied.

"No?" Keith put his chin to his hand and looked down in thought again.

"There was one Galra ship's signature on the surface. I assumed it was the Prince's," Pidge clarified.

"It... doesn't seem like the planet's been taken over at all. But he said he would protect it," Keith thought out loud. "I think we should try talking to him," he finally announced.

Allura came out of hiding and pulled Keith's arm so they could see each other and she could object. "But—"

"I know he could call for back up if he wants to. If he sends any transmission, it'll have to come from his ship. We can watch it and if anything happens we can either go for the capture or retreat."

Allura's expression shifted through shocked to reluctantly grateful. Lance and Pidge both folded their arms but didn't say anything.

"How did you plan on getting us to this planet?" Keith asked her.

"I'd open a portal and the lions would push us through in place of our missing thruster."

"Would that work?" he sounded skeptical.

"It could," Coran thought about it. "It would be easy with Voltron, but I can't say how many of the lions individually it would take."

"Okay, what time will the Blade be there?"

"I'm awaiting their encoded transmission. I requested that they arrive as soon as they are able," Allura had the sense to look mildly ashamed.

There was a beep from the console behind her. She turned and opened the message.

"They will arrive in forty doboshes."

"Tell them that when they arrive, they should hold their fire until we give the word."

Allura did as Keith said and sent an encoded message back.

"You should suit up," Keith looked at Allura's regal attire.

"Why?" Allura questioned.

"Because you and Coran are the strongest on the ship. If we capture the Prince and bring him onto the ship, you can help restrain him. And since there are less of us... we might need your help to fight," Keith added slowly.

"Won't having the Blade with their weapons aimed and ready be a little intense for just talking?" Hunk asked.

"We're going ten doboshes early."

"Tío!" Lance cheered as he opened the door before anyone else could get to it.

"Lance!" his uncle lifted him into a bear hug with the biggest grin on his face. He put him back down and then measured where Lance's head came up on his torso. "How have you grown so much? I can barely lift you!"

Lance laughed joyfully. "I'm nine now, that's how!"

"And you're so skinny! I assume you ran off all of your baby fat!" his uncle observed Lance bouncing in front of him out of excitement.

"Tío is here!" Verónica came barreling through the house and attacked her uncle much in the same way Lance had.

"Oh, my favorite niece!" he hugged her just as hard as he had hugged Lance.

"Fernán?" their mother came at the unexpected appearance of her brother-in-law.

Their uncle put Verónica down in order to give their mother a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"I didn't know you'd be coming, I haven't prepared any special food!"

"Ramira, you know you don't have to do anything special for me," he said humbly.

"Fernán!" their father came and hugged his brother as well.

"Cedro!" Fernán clapped the man on his back. "Are your older boys here?" he looked around toward the stair that led to the kids' rooms.

"They're both out right now," Ramira informed him. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

The man shifted from foot to foot. "Well..." he said hesitantly.

Ramira instantly knew where this was going. She looked to her youngest children, both hanging off of one of their uncle's arms each. "Verónica, Lance, it's a nice day out, why don't you go play outside. Or better yet, go down to the beach," she offered.

"Why? Tío just got here and we haven't seen him in ages!" Verónica said the exact words Lance wanted to before he could say them. Lance challenged Verónica with a look and started climbing up his uncle's side. His uncle laughed at them.

"Verónica, Lance! Out, now!" their mother demanded.

Both children were startled by their mother's tone and quickly detached themselves from their uncle and scurried out the back door. They rounded the corner of the house that would take them to the beach but then made eye contact and turned around. They had to keep up appearances so that the adults would actually talk.

They crept back to just to the side of the screen door so that they could listen in. In the time it had taken them to run in a circle, their parents had shown their uncle to the dinning table.

"Hermano, what's going on?" their father asked in clear concern.

"Cedro, I was transporting a family with kids and they were caught," their uncle answered in distress. "We were hiding and they found them but they hadn't found me and I wanted to save them, I really did, but like a coward I stayed where I was!"

"Fernán, you can't blame yourself for that," their mother tried to comfort him.

"Maybe you should stop smuggling people out of the country. It's too dangerous. If you get caught, we'll never here from you again. You should be grateful you weren't found out too," their father insisted.

Lance looked to Verónica in shock at this news but Verónica kept listening intently.

"I know you think I'm going about this the wrong way, Cedro! You have your government job and you get things for people by bribing politicians to look the other way! I get it! But I can't do what you do, this is my way to help. I know how to do this, so how can I turn families away when they ask me?!" he made a sniffling noise. "I see your beautiful children whenever a family with kids comes to me."

"Fernán, I understand, this is your way. What can I do to help?" Cedro asked.

"If I give you the families information, can you get them released?"

"That... could be quite difficult."

"Impossible?"

"Improbable," their father answered truthfully. "But if it will ease your heart, I will try."

"Thank you, Cedro, mi hermano!"

"Cedro, this will be dangerous?" their mother asked, sounding like she knew full well.

"Yes, mi amor."

"Then be careful," is all she said.

"It's almost time. Is everyone clear on the plan?" Keith asked the room at large.

Everyone nodded but there was clearly still tension between all of them. Then Lance had to go and make it worse.

"I see only one problem with your plan. I won't fly the red lion. If you want three lions pushing the Castle, then you'll have to go out there in the black lion," Lance stated.

Everyone looked between him and Keith, not wanting any part in this particular argument.

Keith was slow to respond. "I need to stay here for when we talk to the Prince," he stated

"Oh, yeah! That's a great idea, since you're so good with people," Lance said sarcastically.

"And you're any better like this? One minute we're fine and the next you snap at me! Just stick to the plan, Lance."

"You know I've always been better with people! It sounds to me like the real problem is that you don't want to fly the black lion," Lance continued the argument.

Keith looked away from Lance. "I'll fly the black lion when it's time, but I should be here so that you don't feel like you have to fight with Allura. I'll keep her from making threats and I'll make sure Kolivan doesn't fire without probable cause," he promised. Allura looked to the floor at that.

"I can't trust that she won't convince you to change your mind! Since you two became friends, you always take her side! You let her get away with everything!" Lance contested.

"Coran will still be here, he wouldn't let that happen. And even so, you should trust that I can stick to my own decisions!"

"I can't trust you because you still don't believe that a Galra can just be good!" Lance shouted, stunning everyone.

Keith growled low in his throat but then tried changing tactics. "If you ignore Red, she'll get mad at you," he explained.

"I don't care."

Keith flared his nostrils in a puff of anger. "You don't care? Then what was the point in her saving you?! Like I said, you always do this! Now you're treating her like you treated me!" he yelled scathingly.

Lance didn't back down. "Don't project your feelings onto this situation! She's not my lion, so I won't fly her, it's as simple as that!" Right after the words had left Lance's mouth, he suddenly clutched at his chest like he was in pain.

"Lance, are you okay?!" Hunk immediately went to help him.

"I'm fine!" Lance brushed Hunk aside. He glared up at Keith with clenched teeth. "You're cheating," he accused.

Keith crossed his arms. "I'm not doing anything. I can't feel her at all anymore. This is your own fault for provoking the lion with the worst temper."

"She gets that from you!" Lance straighten himself with pain and anger on his face.

"Not anymore, now she gets it from you!" Keith pointed a finger at him.

Lance lunged at Keith with a screech before anyone could stop him. The two were then on the floor of the bridge kicking, punching, biting and scratching, all the while, pulling off pieces of each other's armor so that they could inflict actual damage.

"Keith! No wait!" Allura yelled.

"Lance! Stop it! It's not Keith's fault!" Pidge tried pulling one of Lance's arms away.

"Guys! We shouldn't fight like this!" Hunk desperately tried to separate them.

They kept fighting, Keith biting Lance's hand when it got too close and Lance pulling Keith's hair trying to get him off, each making inhuman sounds when anyone tried interfering. It took both Alteans with their naturally superior strength to pry the two apart and hold them away from each other as they still tried lashing out.

"Paladins should not—!"

"I thought you wanted to be friends!" Keith shouted at Lance over Allura trying to berate them while he struggled in her fierce hold.

"I do!" Lance shouted back, trying to lunge angrily at him, not being able to break from Coran. Everyone else who had wanted to say something to the two, shut up promptly.

"Then why?!" Keith yelled back.

"I don't know!" Lance shouted in anguish and finally went slack in Coran's arms and hung his head.

Keith stopped thrashing and looked Lance over carefully. They had both done quite a bit of damage to each other. Lance had bite marks and scratches all up his arms and one of his ears was bleeding. Keith knew his own lip was bleeding and that Lance had given him bruises all over his face and body. Why had it come to this? They had never fought like this before. Keith knew what it was like to not know why you had hurt someone. He had always had a terrifying monster lurking inside of him that appeared at the worst of times. He'd been thinking it was his Galra side since finding out about his true heritage, but if Lance had one too, it couldn't be that.

Keith made a decision. "Hunk, Pidge, get to your lions," he ordered. Lance looked back up at him and they made eye contact. Keith saw bruises forming on Lance's face, something he never wanted to see. "You and I will stay on the bridge," he looked from one of Lance's blue eyes to the other. "And... if two lions isn't enough, I'll go out and help them."

Lance's eyes widened like he couldn't understand why Keith was saying these things.

"But Keith," Allura objected with some hesitancy.

Keith stood properly and when he made to turn around, Allura let him go. "If you can't trust Lance right now, then trust my judgement," he told her.

Seeing how everyone was calming down Coran let Lance go too. Pidge brought over some of the pieces of Lance's armor for him to put back on. He seemed like he was almost in a trance as he accepted each piece and put where it should go. Hunk came over and tentatively inspected the marks on Lance's face.

"Don't look at me like that, I'm not the only one whose hurt," Lance whispered so that only Hunk could hear. Hunk looked over at Keith who had yet to collect the missing pieces of his armor.

"It's not only that. You and Lance look a bit... disheveled," Allura put it diplomatically.

Keith ran a hand through his hair and then shook his head so that it fell into place wherever it wanted. "Ignore it," Keith told her. "Act like nothing's strange."

Allura made an exasperated sound. "Well at least let me fix this," she started fussing with his hair.

Lance saw this exchange and looked away.

"Lance, are you okay, buddy?" Hunk asked him quietly. Him and Pidge were staring at Lance.

"I don't know," Lance answered honestly.

"Hunk, Pidge," Keith got their attention as he started picking up his armor by himself. "We don't have much time, get going."

Neither moved for a few seconds. Pidge looked at Keith and made a decision of her own. "Okay," she said. She reached for one of his upper arm and shoulder pieces and handed it to him.

Keith eyed her, as if trying to determine her intentions and then accepted the piece. "Thank you," he said.

She nodded and then jogged to the chute that led to her lion and disappeared.

Hunk looked between everyone in the room unsurely. He caught sight of Coran catching Allura's eyes and then her looking down at the floor. Keith was openly staring at him waiting for him to make his own decision. Lance was no help at all since he was still in his own head thinking about who knows what.

Finally, Allura bravely looked back up at him. "Well, you heard him."

Hunk looked from Allura to Keith who looked at Allura with something interesting in his eyes. Then he looked from Keith to Coran who was staring at Allura with a soft smile on his face.

"Right," he finally decided and then nodded to Keith and left down his own chute.

Keith stood still for a while as the rest looked at him. He was hesitating. Why? Maybe because he still didn't want this. But eventually, "Allura, take the helm."

She stepped onto her podium without complaint, wearing her white and pink armor with her hair tied up and out of her face.

"Coran, once we make it through, stay at tactical just in case," Keith ordered.

Coran went to his console and prepared to isolate the broken thruster so that it wouldn't try turning on.

Lance picked up the last piece of Keith's armor he had ripped off, the right hand glove. He looked at it for a bit before offering it to Keith. Keith stared at Lance without moving.

"I guess we took the whole 'I shoot things, you cut things' too far this time, huh?" Lance joked, but even he couldn't manage a smile.

Keith continued staring, nonreactive. Lance tried staring back at him but it proved too difficult.

Eventually, Keith grabbed the hand piece from him and put it on. "Stay with me for a while, okay?" he whispered to Lance.

Lance's gaze snapped back to him and he his expression turned pained and remorseful, like he want to ask Keith why, but he didn't dare open his mouth. Instead, he nodded his head minutely.

"I'm ready," Allura announced.

"Our two remaining thrusters are ready to come online," Coran followed.

Keith put his helmet on so that he could hear the mics. "Pidge, Hunk?"

"We're in position," Pidge confirmed.

Keith looked over at Lance and made a motion to him with his head. Somehow, Lance knew exactly what Keith was telling him. Lance put on his helmet too.

"Okay," Keith took a breath like he was preparing himself. "Allura, open a portal."

Allura summoned her power and a soft blue light enveloped her, moving over the two staves that would harness her energy to the teledav. A bright light began appearing in front of the ship and it expanded and expanded.

"The portal is ready."

"Coran, you'll start the thrusters slowly and Pidge and Hunk, you'll start pushing when I say," Keith waited for confirmation. When he got it, "Now!"

The thrusters came online and the Castle began inching forward. As the speed increased, the ship started veering to one side and the portal began disappearing from view.

"Hunk, Pidge, you'll have to push harder," Keith said.

"I know! Trying hard here!" Pidge said through her efforts.

"Coran, back off on the thrusters a bit," Keith suggested. The Castle slowed down in its turn but it wasn't righting its direction. "Can you guys give it any more?"

"I'm pushing as hard as I can!" Hunk roughly breathed out.

"It's not enough!" Pidge responded.

"You may be inclined to hurry, I can't hold a portal open forever," Allura said sharply, like she was trying hard not to hold her breath in her exertion.

Keith took another important breath. "Okay, I'm coming out." Keith turned to go.

"I'll come with you," Lance spoke up, stopping him.

Keith searched Lance's face. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I'll stay with you," Lance said with a air of determination.

Keith slowly churned out his response. "That would leave Allura with just Coran."

"Yes, but, things are different now," Lance glanced at Allura and back.

"Yeah, they are."

"Just tell Allura not to start without us," Lance gave a half smile.

Keith let out a breath that was almost a laugh. "You heard that?" he called to Allura.

"Yes, now if you could please hurry up, this is much more difficult when the Castle is facing away from the portal!" she urged.

They each went to their own precipice, neither had been down them before. They held their breaths as they looked down the sloping tunnels. In sync, they looked to one another, gave a nod and took the step they wouldn't take back, disappearing from the bridge.

As soon as Keith's pilot chair rolled into place, Lance's face appeared on he screen.

"You were right. She's pissed at me," Lance admitted.

"She'll get over it as long as you're sorry," he advised.

"I think I can tell," Lance thought out loud.

"Okay," Keith refocused his attention. "Together then?" he asked.

"Yeah," Lance agreed.

They looked at each other for confirmation and then gripped the controls in front of them. The lions responded to them in turn and neither paladin was sure how to feel.

"Keith?"

"Yeah?"

"...Red is sensitive."

"I know."

They took the lions out of their hangers and flew to the other side of the ship.

"Hurry up already!" Pidge complained as she saw them round the corner.

"Okay, Lance, we have to start slowly, don't push too hard," Keith told him.

"I already know."

They placed their lions' paws next to where Green and Yellow were and started pushing forward. When they didn't immediately move, they pushed a bit harder until the Castle started turning back to face the portal.

"Coran, let us know when we're aligned again," Keith requested.

"A little more, a little more," Coran started guiding them. "Aaaand, we're even!"

"Okay, start increasing the power on the thrusters. Paladins, wait a few seconds and then push harder together."

The thrusters started pushing them forward.

"Now, guys!"

They all pushed together, the Castle started gaining speed. Once past the boarder of the portal, the paladins had to punch it to keep up with the Castleship being pulled along by the wormhole. Everyone gritted their teeth in focus until Allura let out a sigh of over the comm when she could release the staves of her podium. They were through.

On the outskirts of the solar system, the small orange and blue planet they were looking for wasn't close enough to be seen. They were hidden behind a gas giant with a strong magnetic field to provide them with interference from scans.

"Alright, Lance, let's get back on the bridge. Then we'll start the real plan," Keith took the black lion in.

"Sure thing, leader," was Lance's response. It was the first time he had called him that without a hint of sarcasm. None of them were confident with this, but that was a good start.

A/N: A long chapter after the long break.

Sometimes I'm not sure how much I should share on the internet but... my uncle died from cancer very unexpectedly. He and I were living in different countries, so with everything going on, I couldn't attend his funeral. It took me a while, but I'm doing alright. And wouldn't you know it, I suddenly cranked out this chapter in just a few days.

I still love writing and I love these characters, so I'm glad if any of you stick around with me. Thanks for reading, guys.