Chapter Summary: After a series of disturbing events, the Black Lion flees to Keith during a Blade mission.

This was very fun but very challenging to write. Especially how their mental bond would work under distress. Dedicated to fallingsnow6136 for the excellent prompt, thank you so much!

Warnings: Canon-typical violence, very minor character death, brief and non-graphic implication of child abuse.

Disclaimer: I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender and make no profit from this work.

"Keith, you done yet?" Regris is off to the side, prepping an explosive on an exposed portion of the wall to throw off the Empire's soldiers once they escape. His voice is hushed and steady but the slight swishing of his burn scarred tail gives away his nerves. He's probably not too keen on the possibility of getting caught up in another enemy ambush or premature explosion since it's already happened to him twice in a row.

"Almost. The data transfer still needs another dobash."

"Got it. Forred, any enemies approach-"

Regris's question is interrupted by a foul Galran swear from the older Blade member, and Keith's cheeks heat up at the intensity of the word. Good thing his mask is hiding that at least.

"There's... something emerging from a nearby wormhole. And it's fucking huge."

Shit.

Regris responds first. "ETA?"

"If it heads for this area, maybe about a dobash and thirty ticks?"

Despite the growing cold feeling in his gut, Keith manages to bite out a response. "Alright, almost done with this. Forred, can you prep our escape route?"

"On it."

The data transfer is nearly at 100 percent and Keith's anxiety reaches a fever pitch as he watches the progress bar fill. Suddenly he's drowning in sensations of bright stars and icy biting cold. He gasps and holds his head, barely hearing Regris and Forred's frantic yelling. Wh-what? The feeling is intense yet somehow familiar and Keith finally recognizes the source. Black?

The cold freezing his mind reaches a fever pitch and melds into a deep, frigid roar. It's shortly accompanied by the very real world screech of thick metal bending and ripping, which fills the bridge of the warship. The powerful vacuum of space whips around the three Blades and threatens to suck them out, forcing them to cling to various equipment and the grooves in the walls before the massive head of the Black Lion fills the hole. Beside her head are giant metal claws that puncture the hull, so she's clearly anchored to the ship they're on.

No one speaks between them and the silence is thick with tension as they stare at the head of Voltron. The head that Keith used to pilot. That should be back at the Castle millions of light years away. That is now sticking her head through a Galran warship during a very important stealth mission.

Her milky white, pupiless eyes stare back at them. And despite the three Blades all wearing identical uniforms, he feels her eyes directly on him. He's suddenly reminded of Adam's pet black cat, on the days when she would stare right at him before pouncing on his lap and rubbing her face on his. He's grateful Black is far too massive for that.

Outside of his own head, his mouth is desert dry and it takes a few tries to get it to work. Then his brain finally catches up with what he's seeing or really, who he shouldn't be seeing. "Black! What are you doing here?" She's going to ruin their mission, stealth most likely thrown out the window already. If his mask was off, he would be tugging at his hair. He grinds his teeth instead, trying to bite down on his anger at least a bit.

"The fuck is going on?"

"Why's the Black Lion here?"

"Keith I swear by the void if you summoned it here-"

Keith's temper flares at Forred. "Why would I do something so stupid? Have I ever summoned her to a mission before!"

He mentally throws his temper at Black for emphasis. But she's quiet, doesn't even respond. It feels almost as if, she's backing away from him? And he feels guilty for a moment before remembering that she shouldn't even be here. Why is she here?

Cold sweat breaks out underneath his mask and his hands are quivering. The sights and sense of deep space overtake him and he realizes it's coming from her again. Black is always calm and in control, always fearless and strong. Something is very wrong and his stomach bottoms out at the endless possibilities.

A cry from Regris is his first warning, the low grunt near him a second one, and he releases and brings up his blade in time to block a heavy swing from a warhammer, aimed right at his midsection. While a good chunk of the blow's strength is absorbed, Keith can't stop its full momentum and he's sent flying into the wall near the bridge's entrance.

The collision rattles his bones and he's positive it would have broken several if not for the Blade suit absorbing most of the shock. As such he's still stunned and slides down the wall with a groan to crumple on the floor.

He looks up and the one who struck him is a large and stocky Galran, his face fully covered by what resembles a hockey mask with the rest of his body is dressed in thick Empire armor. "Little one, is that the best you've got? My dear Redline needs more of a workout." The last word is punctuated by a powerful overhead swing and Keith barely rolls out the way before the warhammer hits the ground.

Its collision with the floor sends vibrations throughout Keith's body even after he recovers near his comrades. Looking over, there's a large impact crater with the hammer in its center.

Keith readies his now transformed blade as alarms blare around them, the heavy sound of Sentry footsteps echoing in the distance. In his mind there's a sudden great roar and total panic floods his body. He hears Forred yell "tractor beam!" as a bright light shines past Black, filling the bridge and blinding him for a moment.

Metal creaks and groans and Black tries to find purchase while her massive claws are still embedded in the side of the ship. But they're ripped from the hull, leaving behind giant punctures and claw marks in their wake. Just as Black is pulled from the ship, the sucking of the vacuum resumes for a single moment and Keith's body lifts up, is pulled toward the gap, then slams into a metal wall with a cry. A similar thud follows right behind him.

The large Galran has his hand on a key on the panel Keith was just hacking. Keith groans, realizing he must have activated a repair safety and flung up a back up wall in time. "Oh no, you're not getting away from me just yet little one. Leave the Black Lion to us and come play some more."

They got Black. They're taking Black. She'll be gone if I don't help her now, I don't have time for this! He sees images of Black in his head, being forced in a ship, captured by the Galra. All alone, scared and desperate.

There's a bubbling, a pressure growing hotter in his mind and stomach and it spreads through Keith's arms and legs and overwhelms his senses, sharpening them. As the first Sentry enters the room, Keith surges forward with a loud roar. The armored Galran is clearly caught off guard and stutters his hammer's swing, starting it far too late to catch Keith who nimbly pivots on his heel, using the momentum to grab his arm and swing the Galran around in front of himself.

Keith's massive height difference compared to most Galra works to his advantage for once, as the laser shot aimed at him goes completely wide and passes over his head. It goes through the chest of the Galran warrior and his whole body freezes in place. As the now corpse falls with a heavy bang, Keith is already darting ahead and slicing through the chalice of the Sentry in front of him. He spots movements and before the next two Sentry can aim their blasters he ducks down and severs their legs from their bodies, then stabs each of their chests once they fall.

Behind him he hears more clanging, then the sharp sound of metal cutting through metal. He turns and sees Forred finishing off three more Sentry. "We need to get out of here!"

Keith's jaw clenches. "I'm not leaving without Black."

"Listen, we need to escape now before more-wait. Where's Regris?"

The spitting retort on his tongue fades as he realizes his friend is completely missing in action. The heat fades away and a cold despair fills him as the realization of how dire the situation is finally sinks in. The ship violently shakes and the horrible screech of metal scraping metal vibrates insides Keith's ears. The Black Lion's head reappears in the gap again and the diminishing air pressure begins to drag the two toward her. A triumphant roar sounds from the Lion and Regris yells and whoops through the comms. Keith can't help but hold back a wide grin, hidden behind his mask.

Black opens her mouth and the two Blades manage to just barely scramble up the ramp, enduring the rocking as Black closes her jaws and speeds away from the ship. Regris gives them a warning before his stolen fighter tethers itself to the Lion. Keith is treated to the sight of a massive explosion on the side of the warship, most likely Regris remote denoting his bomb, just before Black warps through a nearby wormhole.

Keith sits in the pilot's chair with each Blade flanking either side of him. Regris had managed to escape through the opening just before that Galra sealed the hole. From there he had to quickly maneuver through space using his ziplines as well as jetpack to his plane and then blast the triangular enemy fighters to disrupt their tractor beam trapping Black.

After taking a breather and gathering their intel to encode and transmit it to the Blade base, Keith palms the controls and reaches out to connect with Black. According to the navigation, they're a few galaxies away from the Castle which Keith tries to pilot to, but that feeling of distress returns and his palms are slick with sweat again.

Out the corner of his eye, Forred crosses his arms and he can practically see his furrowed brow. "Keith? Why aren't we moving?"

"And how did your Lion even get there in the first place?" Regris sounds decidedly less irritated and more confused, his tail flicking around again.

Keith ignores their questions and closes his eyes, speaking to Black himself. We're out of danger now but you have to talk to me. What happened? Why are you so upset? He feels her sort out her thoughts, memories a jumbled mess, before she finally sets on a single image. A person.

Shiro.

He nearly doesn't recognize Shiro at first, because his face is twisted and eyes flashing almost red. Made ugly by its sheer malice. Keith flashes back to a foster father who made the same face before locking him in a dark closet. The breath is punched out of him before Black brings him back to the present and she soothes him with visions of the starry night sky. After a moment, she gradually brings back the image of Shiro.

This time Keith controls his reaction and instead studies his face. He's never seen that look on Shiro before and something twists in his gut. That feeling is repeated in Black and he's beginning to understand things a bit more. Was he...making that face at you?

A cool heat blooms and spreads from Black to Keith's chest and he grips the controls tighter. She slowly fades out that image and replaces it with one that ends up being much worse. The image shines and glows until the light washes it out. Even brighter, as pure starlight engulfes them in a boiling heat and brightness. Keith squeezes his eyes against it and is nearly overtaken until it leaves at once.

The new image before them is Zarkon, much younger and wearing the exact warped expression as Shiro, eyes glowing red.

Before Keith's thoughts can catch up Black flashes more images in his mind. Shiro yelling at Allura, Lotor facing down Zarkon with the Black bayard, Shiro screaming at Lance, Shiro bringing Black to Feyiv for the Kral Zera, (Keith remembers that mission, the one he sabotaged, and being so angry with Shiro for how reckless he was)-

The images glow and heat up and burn and are too bright. That same boiling heat from before swells his head as Black's own thoughts are frantic, panicked. Then it stops. Keith is panting from the mental exertion, heart pounding and head swimming.

He takes a deep breath, then another, soothing her as well. I'm sorry. He had no right to do that to you or the others. Don't worry, we'll go back to the castle. And I'll have a long talk with Shiro. Relief floods his mind, tinged a bit by concern for Keith. It's okay, I'll be fine.

He can't help but be slightly unnerved though, seeing his brother like this and knowing that same expression, that anger, might be turned on him too. Or even worse. Ever since Shiro came back, he's been...off somehow. Shiro's never really been a talker but now he's so brisk. Almost aggressive at times. There was a distance between them he never felt before, not even when they first met. Initially he was willing to ignore the changes, chalking it up to trauma at being recaptured.

But he can't ignore this. Shiro would never look at anyone like this (looked just like Zarkon), especially not Black. And the fact he did so many other callous things, yelled at his friends. Made Black go to the Empire knowing her history with them. Shiro was always so good to her before, so patient-

"-ith! Keith!

He snaps out of his thoughts and sees Regris, mask down and hand waving in front of his face. "Yeah?"

"You didn't answer us for like five dobashes. Freaked us out." And he can see the concern in Regris's eyes. Even Forred is giving him that look, the one that screams "something is wrong and I'm finding out eventually."

He shakes his head. "I'm. I'm okay now. Was just talking with Black. We'll head to the Castle now." This time there's no resistance but instead a bracing for something big, like a mounting conflict with no easy resolution. Keith breathes out and pushes forward the controls, piloting her with ease like he never left the seat.

And it might be for the best. If things go sour from here on out, he might not be able to leave Voltron again. Which is a whole other can of worms.

I cannot believe I didn't tap into the Lion whump potential until now. Especially Black, she must be carrying around so much trauma. She gets to be a little baby for a day, as a treat.

Also keeping Regris alive was a treat to myself, because I love him so much. Of course he couldn't escape an explosion unscathed, hence the burned tail.