the doctor grumbled to himself about how hard stitching was as he grabbed Lances hand again, forcing Lance to sit down.

"Don't move," he ordered and Lance nodded. Do not anger the guy with the needle.

"Lets start with the simple questions first, Mcclain," Iverson said taking a seat opposite, "what happened the night you all ran away?"

"…if that's a simple question i can already tell you that the others are going to be impossible to explain-"

"Mcclain," Iverson pinched the bridge of his nose, "just give me the facts…please?"

Lance was suddenly overcome with the urge to call the others and tell them he'd gotten Iverson to say 'please'! If only he could call them…

"Its a long story," Lance said.

"We've got all night," Iverson said tossing Lance a granola bar.

()

"Hunk, you ok?!" Keith couldn't get Red to work. Yellow also seemed to be out of commission and just floated nearby. Working his way around zero-G Keith exited the lion and headed over to Hunk.

Getting inside was a little work. Hunks head was bleeding, but he wasn't unconscious. He grabbed the first aid box and began to clean it up

"Keith?"

"I'm right here. You wacked your head really good."

"Aaaaand that'sssss bad…"

"I think so."

Hunk nodded rubbed his eyes, "where's everyone else?"

"Not around here, but once our lions start working again we'll head to the meet up point."

"We lost…"

"Not really," Keith shrugged, "we fell apart the same time we sliced them in half. I'd say its a draw if you really want to give them any credit at all."

Hunk scowled at him, "you….you are talking a lot…"

Then Hunks eyes widened, "Oh my gosh, i'm dying…you're talking to distract me from dying!"

"No, Hunk, you are not dying-"

"Don't let Lance take my jacket-"

"HUNK! You are NOT dying! All head wounds bleed like this, you'll be fine…just, don't go to sleep cause you have a concussion."

"…right…Keith?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm really tired."

"Tell me about the project you and Pidge are working on."

As Hunk talked Keith worked on getting the bleeding to stop.

()

"That is impossible to swallow, Mcclain," Iverson narrowed his eyes at the young cadet.

"I'm telling you, Sir, that everything i said is absolutely true."

"Aliens."

"as real as i am sitting here."

"And you, Garret, Gunderson, and Kogane are seen as heros."

"And Shiro."

"Uh-huh."

"Its the truth! I can show you were i landed! I can-"

"Mcclain, go home," Iverson reached out and patted his shoulder, "get some rest. We'll talk later."

"But Sir, this planet is already on the Galra radar! Earth is weak and highly unprepared for an attack! The Galra took over the Olkaris and they-"

Iverson shook his head and left.

"Lance," Montgomery leaned forward, "its not that we don't believe you…its that this is a lot of information. How can we not believe you when you show up in an outfit we have never seen before?"

Lance looked down at his paladin armor. He'd forgotten that he'd been wearing it. He took out his bayard and activated it. Montgomery's jaw dropped. Lance grinned and put it away.

"You tell Iverson that every thing i said is true and convince him that we need to ramp up our defenses and tech. The Galra are serious and they are dangerous. But until you guys can get your heads in the game, i am going home to see my family."

()

Lance waited out front while his dad pulled the car up. His mother got out and hugged him again. Then Lance turned to Paul Mcclain with the most shocking red hair anyone had ever seen. But he was a good matured person and he embraced Lance as strongly as any father would.

"Next time at least leave a note, k?" he asked, not letting go. Lance grinned and didn't pull away. He liked Paul. the irish man had helped his mother at her new job after they'd moved to the states. Over time his mom had remarried and Paul became the father that Lance and his siblings had only dreamed of. He was a happy man that dealt with harsh realities with a smile on his face. When he did get drunk he was a jovial drunk with a ready and vulgar song he'd sing at the top of his lungs. But he didn't drink all that often; only on holidays and for celebrations. He was clumsy, but he treated Lances mom like a queen and Lance found no fault in that.

Paul finally pulled back and ruffled his hair, looking at his hand.

"Oh, that doesn't look too bad. The way your mother went on last night you'd think it was falling off at the elbow!"

"It is a gaping wound!" she snapped while Lance and Paul laughed.

"Well, we got food at the house and if we can get back before Milo does, you may have enough hot water for a quick shower."

"Bless," Lance sighed, "I missed my own shampoo."

"The garrison told us not to ask you," Paul said as they shut the doors to the car, "but, you were ok out there? you weren't hurt or…"

Lance grinned and chuckled, "I was fine. I had my teammates with me and we looked after each other. We made a lot of friends and helped a lot of people. That's all i can really tell you. But with every ounce of Blood-honesty, i'm perfectly fine."

"Good enough for me," Paul looked over at his wife who gave Lance a searching look. Then she nodded.

"fine, but don't think i won't give that one eyed jackel a piece of my mind later."

"You'll have to fight others for the honor," Lance laughed, "shiro has dibs."

()

"finally," Keith sighed as the yellow lion hummed to life. He could see his own lion glow as well. How long had it been?

"hunk I'm going back to my lion, ok?"

"…Yeah…"

"Really try to not fall asleep, i'm going to see if i can't fly you back to the castle."

"…ok…"

Keith sighed and hesitated before going back. Leaving Hunk alone with that level of concussion was not what he was supposed to do, he was sure, but he also needed to get him actual help as well.

Sitting himself down in his seat, Keith tried to contact the others first.

"Shiro? come in."

silence.

"Pidge? Lance?"

Silence.

"Coran? Allura?"

He brought up a search of the area and saw nothing. No systems nearby, no planets or anything that he could use to determine where they were.

He remembered being told, when he was younger, that if he got lost he should stay put and wait for someone to find him. It was logical and he'd agreed with the notion at the time. But back then he didn't really have anyone he cared about enough.

Hunk was injured and needed help. Waiting for help was going to take too long.