Chapter Six:
"AND JUST WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" Iverson yelled, gesturing wildly at the Lions—who growled and seemed to move as if ready to pounce in order to protect their Paladins—and the Castle.
Shiro, ever the peacemaker, took a deep breath and said,
"Commander, if you'll let us explain…"
"YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH, SHIROGANE!" Iverson yelled.
"Don't yell at Shiro!" Keith snarled, putting himself between Iverson and Shiro.
"YOU'RE OUT OF LINE, CADET!" Iverson roared at Keith.
"I'M NOT A CADET ANYMORE BECAUSE APPARENTLY YOU'RE SO STUPID YOU'VE FORGOTTEN THAT YOU PERSONALLY THREW ME OUT OF THE GARRISON! LITERALLY THREW ME OVER THE PROPERTY LINE!" Keith shouted back.
"Keith, Keith, buddy…" Lance said hurriedly, eyes wide, grabbing at Keith's arm, pulling him away from Iverson. "You need to chill out a little. You're getting a little, uh, hot under the collar."
Keith clenched his jaw shut and instinctively brought a hand to his neck, where only his teammates had noticed the purple splotches that were slowly starting to spread across the exposed skin on the back of his neck. They just hoped that everyone else thought that the weird purplish tint in Keith's hair was a result of the setting sun.
"I WANT YOU KNUCKLEHEADS TO EXPLAIN THOSE ROBOT LIONS, THAT SHIP, THESE ALIENS AND TELL ME EXACTLY WHERE THAT LARGE ROBOT MAN WENT!" Iverson yelled.
"Shiro was trying to tell you all that before you told him to 'shut his mouth'." Pidge pointed out. Iverson gave them a glare and opened his mouth to yell some more, but before he could do so, another car arrived, a red Jeep that was clearly not Garrison property.
"Ha!" Said the passenger of the Jeep as the car braked, a hot-pink smartphone in hand. The girl's eyes gleamed as she scrambled out of her seatbelt. "I told you it was a good thing we continued in the same direction after the Green one took off!"
"What I want to know is how these idiots beat us here." The driver said, coming around to the other side of the vehicle, her dreadlocks bobbing lightly in the ponytail she had them tied back in.
The other girl didn't seem to be listening to the driver, because she released a happy squeal and rushing forward, shoving past three of the Garrison officials to get to the Paladins.
Or, more specifically, a grinning Hunk.
"Lani!" He exclaimed, wrapping her into a hug, her arms around his neck.
"Oh my gosh, Hunk!" Lani said with a laugh, kissing his cheek. "I've missed you so much! We all have! I thought I'd never see you again!"
"GET OUT OF HERE, WRIGHT!" Iverson yelled at the driver, who folded her arms over her chest defiantly.
"You can't tell me what to do anymore, Commander. That's what happens when you keep kicking people out of Galaxy Garrison, you know. They don't listen to you." Tali said bitterly.
"Oh my gosh!" Lani squealed again, eyes going wide when she saw the Lions, quickly turning her phone to get shots of all of them. "Oh my gosh! I can't believe it! The Blue Lion! And, yes, folks, you're really seeing this: there's five total! Blue, Red, Black, Green and Yellow!"
"And together they form Voltron, the most powerful weapon in the entire universe." Hunk said proudly with a grin as Lani turned the phone to him. "But each of the Lions is a pretty powerful weapon on their own. We're their Paladins, the ones who pilot the Lions. Lance flies Blue and I fly Yellow, and we form the legs, Keith is Red's pilot and Pidge is Green's and they're the arms, and Shiro, as our leader, flies Black and makes the head of Voltron."
"Wait," Iverson said, stopping his glaring match with Tali to turn to Lani and pointed at her cellphone. "Is that recording?"
"Oh, no, it's streaming." Lani said with a grin. "Dude, this is the second great thing that's happened so far because of those purple alien guys."
"What was the first?" Pidge asked.
"Oh, just that our subscription and viewer numbers on Voltron Watch quintupled overnight!" Lani said brightly. "So there's currently a couple million, if not billion, people watching this livestream!"
"What!" Iverson yelled. "Turn that off right this instant!"
"Are you two aliens, too?" Lani asked Allura and Coran, totally ignoring Iverson.
"I am Princess Allura, of the planet Altea." Allura said, suddenly all beauty and grace and poise. "And this is my advisor, Coran. Thousands of years ago, it was the Alteans who—"
"I SAID TURN THAT THING OFF NOW!" Iverson yelled at Lani.
"Um, sir?" Said one of the Garrison troopers as he came up to Iverson.
"It's a free country!" Lani snapped, hand on her hip as she whirled around to face Iverson.
"What exactly are you afraid of, Commander?" Tali asked, coming around to wrap her arm around Lani's shoulder.
"Commander Iverson?" The trooper said.
"Look here, Wright, I am the one in charge here. Unless you want to be—" Iverson started.
"Sir!" The trooper said, voice a little louder, more urgent.
"WHAT?" Iverson yelled. The trooper cringed but then whispered something to Iverson, who paled.
"But, how?" Iverson asked the trooper. "We haven't had time to alert the nearest military base yet. Haven't even set up our communications or—"
"Miss Wright and Miss Kahele, may I please ask you to end your livestream at this moment? I personally guarantee that any further news regarding this issue will be reported first on your blog."
The voice was a little distant and tinny, and that was when everyone looked behind Iverson to see another Trooper holding a laptop, eyes wide.
Iverson immediately stood up straighter and saluted.
"Mr. President." He said, addressing the man on the screen, who nodded.
Lani's own eyes were wide as she fumbled to turn off the stream as Tali pulled herself up straighter, arms falling to her sides as she stared straight ahead.
The Paladins weren't sure how to respond to the new situation, or indicate for their Altean friends to respond. Shiro automatically and unconsciously pulled himself into an attention position, while Hunk, Pidge and Lance just stood a little straighter. Keith didn't move, keeping his arms crossed over his chest and glowered.
"Do we salute? I feel like we need to be saluting." Hunk asked in a whisper to Lance and Pidge, who both shrugged.
"At ease." The President of the United States said. But only Tali, Shiro and Iverson—who were at attention—followed the order. "First, I want to extend thanks to the Paladins of Voltron, and the Princess of Altea and her most esteemed advisor, on behalf of the United States of America, as well as the world. I have already received footage captured by the cameras on the International Space Station of your battle, as well as reports from around the world of the sudden departure of the Galra. Many of the bases have been able to be reclaimed from the remaining robotic soldiers and others are in the process of providing back-up to those who are still struggling. We were very fortunate that you arrived when you did."
"We are just glad we got here in time, before they could cause too much damage." Shiro said. "We've seen first-hand what the Galra have done to other planets. Earth is very fortunate that their colonization attempts were stopped before they began."
"Then our gratitude is ten-fold." The President said with a slight bow of his head. "But I also need to bring forth our second area of business. Commander Iverson, you and the chain of command at Galaxy Garrison are hereby relieved of duty until further notice."
Iverson's eyes widened and he seemed to be grasping for words, then he said at last,
"Yes, sir, Mr. President, sir."
"Takashi Shirogane." The President said. "Until further notice, you are in command of all Garrison personnel as well as all members of the United States Armed Forces. You are free to direct your Lions and the Alteans' ship to whatever destination you decide. Once you make your decision, I will arrange for security to that area as well as begin finding a secure location for a conference between yourself, your Paladins, the Alteans, myself and the heads of the United States Military, as well as other foreign leaders."
The other four Paladins looked to Shiro, who blinked a bit in stunned silence.
"Thank you, sir." Shiro finally got out. "I will need to confer with my Paladins, the Princess and her Advisor before making any decisions about where to move the Lions and Castle to."
"Of course." The President said. "I need to attend to messages from other world leaders, but call me as soon as you make your decision."
With that, the screen went dark.
And all eyes were on Shiro.
"Dude." Lance said, eyes wide. "You're now pretty much the most powerful person in the whole country! Maybe even the world!"
"Am I even a United States citizen?" Shiro asked, looking around at the other Paladins for an answer.
"Nope." Pidge said with a grin. "But I don't think that sort of thing matters when your planet gets invaded by purple furries and then saved by a giant robot man."
"Where to now?" Hunk asked.
"I'm not even really sure where we are, to be honest." Shiro confessed.
"Keith's place is right over that hill." Pidge said, jerking their thumb over their shoulder. "This is where Green and I crash-landed. Lucky, too. By the way, Keith, I borrowed some of your tools and parts. Hope you don't mind."
"Pidge, I would have given you everything I own to get you back into space." Keith said, ruffling Pidge's hair.
"Think there's anything in Keith's conspiracy theorist hobo shack that's still edible?" Hunk asked. "'Cause right now I'll go for anything that's not food goo."
"Yeah, because a Cup of Noodles with a side of stale Oreos and expired Sriracha sauce is exactly what we all want as our first finally-back-on-earth meal." Lance said dryly.
"It's what we fed Shiro." Pidge pointed out. "Seems only fair."
"Uh, no. We need to do much better than that. We've all spent the last six months knowing we'd sell each other out for a chocolate bar first chance we got, would feel no guilt whatsoever for doing so, and no one would blame us in the slightest for it." Lance said. "We've held out this long, but I don't know for how much longer."
"And we need to feed Allura and Coran the best of the best Earth food to prove that it is superior to food goo." Hunk added, pounding a fist into the palm of his hand determinately.
"And I'm pretty sure you all cleared out my pantry the last time you were there." Keith said, arms folded over his chest. "It's not like I've had a chance to go grocery shopping lately, you know."
"Let's worry about food later." Shiro said. "Right now, we need to focus on getting the Lions and the Castle to a secure location. Allura, Coran, will the Castle be able to make a short trip?"
"Yes." Allura said. "But I do believe we will need to find parts to repair the Castle."
"Not the Garrison." Keith said in a low voice, eyeing over at the very confused troops who were waiting Shiro's orders. Some of the more senior officers almost seemed to be sizing all of them up and glaring bitterly. "That'd put us directly into a nest of vipers."
"Agreed." Pidge said.
"But where, then?" Shiro asked. "I don't want to go to another military base."
"Hey, uh, sorry, we were totally eavesdropping on this conversation." Lani said, suddenly appearing behind Hunk and Lance, scaring the latter. "But, anyways, you'll probably want to be close to an airport and lots of hotels if the President is bringing in foreign dignitaries. And, you know what's nearby? Henderson, which just so happens to be the closest city to the nearest international airport."
"Henderson?" Pidge repeated, blinking as thoughts of their hometown came to mind. "Wait, were you two in Henderson? Like recently?"
"I've been in Henderson for the last week with your mom. Lani got in right before the Galra arrived." Tali said to Pidge, before looking at Hunk, Lance and Shiro. "Mrs. Holt invited all your families to Henderson, actually, before the whole alien invasion thing happened. It was supposed to be this kind of this support-group, hey-we-have-something-in-common-someone-we-love-disappeared-into-space-probably thing."
"Yeah, sorry about that." Hunk said sheepishly. "It wasn't intentional, really."
"Then Henderson it is." Shiro said with a faint smile, but the Paladins saw that his smile didn't quite meet his eyes. "I'll go tell Iverson."
Shiro seemed to rush away, and no one was sure why until Shinji sauntered back up. The four Paladins, Allura and Coran regarded him coldly, but Lani and Tali did not.
"Oh, you're Shinji, aren't you?" Lani said with a big grin. "I'm Lani. We haven't met, but I've met your mom and dad and sister and I've seen your pictures before…"
"What are you doing out here?" Tali demanded with a frown. "How did you escape the Garrison lockdown when the Galra arrived?"
"I snuck out the night before. Apparently anyone with a few brain cells can figure out how to do it without getting caught." Shinji said, returning Tali's frown. "How did you two get out here?"
"We followed the trajectory of the giant crashing Lion, then continued in the same direction after it took off again to be pleasantly surprised when a giant robot man landed in the same place a while later." Tali explained. She then decided to turn her attention elsewhere, narrowing her eyes at Keith, who gulped.
"Kwan." She said in a warning tone.
"Hi, Tali." Keith said, trying to give her a grin while slowly backing up. "Long time no see…"
"LONG TIME NO SEE? LONG TIME NO SEE? IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY TO ME, YOU LITTLE BRAT?" Tali yelled suddenly. Keith immediately turned and tried to run towards the Lions, but didn't get far, Tali leaping upon him and putting him in a headlock, digging her fist into the top of his head.
"What's this about a hobo shack, huh?" Tali demanded as Keith tried to fight her off.
"Red! Help me out here!" Keith yelled as he tried to wriggle out of Tali's grasp. To his frustration, the only thing that he got from Red was the Lions' equivalent of a laugh and told him through their bond that she knew he wasn't in any real danger.
Plus, apparently she had decided she liked Tali.
"What the heck were you thinking? I told you to come to me if you ever left the Garrison and what do you do? You run off to live in the middle of nowhere?" Tali yelled at Keith.
"It's… a… long… story!" Keith grunted out, finally freeing himself from her grasp. "And I'm sorry!"
"Sorry's not going to cut it!" Tali snapped. "Now show me this shack so I can decide if I need to be even angrier with you!"
Before Keith got a say in anything, Tali was dragging him by the collar of his armor over the hill.
"I'll go protect the conspiracy theorist nut-job." Lance said, gesturing with a thumb to Keith and Tali before running after them.
"I like her." Allura declared with a smile.
"Tali's the best." Pidge said in agreement. She looked at Lani. "Hi. I'm Pidge. Nice to meet you. Hunk's told us quite a bit about you."
"It's nice to finally meet you, too!" Lani said with a huge grin.
"How did you and Tali meet and start the blog?" Pidge asked.
"The gift of social media, actually." Lani explained. "After you all disappeared, Tali started messaging each other while looking for… well, I'm not sure closure is the right word, but someone to talk to and try and figure out what was going on after the video of you all rescuing Shiro and the one with the Blue Lion went viral. We both wanted to find out what was going on and started a joint investigation. We actually have some help from Kalea and Luana, and a couple of Lance's family members, mostly in running the site and updating news, but they aren't in our videos or anything because they already get so much media focus right now."
"Well, then it's you all—and Hunk—who really saved the day." Pidge said. "Hunk for working on finding a way for us to get onto Earth's internet while in space and a couple galaxies away, and your blog for letting us know what was going on."
Lani beamed.
"I'm just glad you found it." Lani said. "That was what we really hoped for. That somehow, somewhere, the right people would find our blog. We're just glad you all finally came home!"
Pidge bit their lip and glanced at Hunk, then at Allura and Coran.
"What's wrong?" Lani asked, turning to look up at Hunk.
"We came home… but we can't stay." Hunk explained. "We have to take down Emperor Zarkon, and free all the planets he's enslaved. And Voltron's the only thing that will be able to do that. And we have to find Pidge's dad and brother, too."
"So, they're alive?" Tali asked as she came up to the group again, eyes focused on Pidge. "Your Dad and Matt… They're alive?"
"When Dad, Matt and Shiro were first captured by the Galra, they were initially held on the same ship, then split up shortly after; Dad was sent to a labor colony, and Matt was sent to one a few weeks later, and the data I've gathered shows that it's the same one Dad's at. We don't know where they are, but we're going to find them." Pidge explained.
"What happened to Takashi then?" Shinji asked, reminding the group of his presence as he watched his brother directing people and listening patiently to annoyed Garrison officials.
"We have very little confirmed information." Allura said. "Shiro remembers so little of that time."
"Yeah." Shinji said bitterly as Shiro started to walk towards them again. "I figured that part out on my own."
Nothing further was said as Shiro approached.
"What're our orders, Shiro?" Pidge asked.
"We'll leave in fifteen to twenty minutes. I've got the coordinates for the airport. We just have to wait for them to clear the airfield." Shiro explained. "Where's Keith and Lance?"
"I made Keith show me that stupid shack of his. I'm still angry with him." Tali declared, arms folded over her chest. "But he's gathering up his stuff there and he and Lance said they'd be back in about ten."
"How much of that time do you want to bet is turning 'conspiracy theory shack' into a 'love shack'?" Pidge asked Hunk in an undertone with a small smirk, making Hunk snort and Shiro shoot them both a look, making them both sober up and look innocent. The corner of Shiro's mouth curved at their attempts.
"Alright, we need to get to work." Shiro said. "Coran, can we start an inventory of what the Castle will need for repairs? That way the mechanics at the airfield can start bringing in parts to see if they are compatible."
"That shouldn't be a problem." Coran said with a nod.
"And Pidge, do the same with the Green Lion." Shiro said, and Pidge nodded.
"Hunk, can you check the rest of the Lions for any damage? I know the other Lions took just about as many hits as Green did." Shiro said.
"Yeah, sure." Hunk said. He turned to Lani. "Wanna meet the Lions up close and personal?"
"Um, yes!" Lani exclaimed with a squeal.
"Oh man, you're going to love Yellow! She's such as sweetie!" Hunk said. Then he turned to Shiro, employing the use of puppy-dog eyes. "Can Lani ride in Yellow with me to the airport?"
"I don't see why not…" Shiro said, resulting in a lot more squealing from Lani and an even bigger grin from Hunk, who dragged her off to meet the Lions.
"She missed him a great deal." Tali told Shiro as they began to divide and conquer, Shinji deciding to make himself useful and gather up the discarded tools and parts that he and Pidge had left scattered. "It was part of how we clicked so well together. We were going through the same thing, missing our best friends…"
"And the man you love." Shiro added, making Tali freeze and turn to him. He studied her. "Tali… Look, I can't remember much right now. I could barely remember your name and face and all the time we spent together until just a while ago, still don't remember everything. But I remember how much you love Matt. And how much he loves you."
"I regret it, you know." Tali said in a low voice, staring down at the sand at her feet, kicking at a rock. "Not telling him before he left. I didn't want to deal with rejection and then awkwardness when you all got back. But at the same time I didn't want my feelings to be reciprocated and then deal with a long-distance relationship that stretched to the end of the solar system. So I thought it'd be best to wait. Till he got back."
"Matt said the same thing. Agonized over it." Shiro said. "Even when we were traveling to Kerberos, he was still regretting that there wasn't a good option, a good choice to make. And… he regretted it even more when we were captured by the Galra. Wished he had had more courage to just be honest with you."
Tali looked up and put her hand on Shiro's shoulder.
"In a short amount of time, I thought I had lost just about everyone I cared about." Tali said. "My grandfather, my best friend, the guy I had been crushing on for five years… And then Keith runs off into the middle of nowhere without so much as sending me a message to tell me he's alive and not dead in a ditch somewhere. And then, for a few brief moments, I had my best friend alive again. And then I had hope."
"And now?" Shiro asked.
"Now… Now I have to do more than just sit around and hope." Tali said, her eyes hard. "I've got to fight for what I love, for who I love."
"You've always taken matters into your own hands." Shiro commented.
"All except matters of the heart." Tali said. "And that is a mistake I won't make again."
"Hey, Keith… I need you to not freak out or maul me with Red." Lance said suddenly.
"Oh, that's not a scary sentence to hear at all." Keith said, looking up he pulled a t-shirt out of his trunk, stuffing it into his duffel.
He was happy to find that his shack was mostly untouched, his research findings still pinned to the wall and his things where he had left them. The passcode-protected trunk had been helpful in that regard, especially since it was where he kept the most precious thing he owned, what he valued more than the knife that he carried—which was something his mother had always told him was a gift from the father he never knew—and even his beloved red jacket.
He pulled out the tablet computer and its charging cord from where he had carefully wrapped it in towels. All of his mother's research was supposedly on it.
And… he hoped there was something about his father on it. Now, more than ever, did he hope for that. He had always wondered about his nameless, faceless father. But now that he knew that his father was a Galra… now he had a lot more questions.
The problem was, he didn't know what the tablet did or did not contain. He had never gotten beyond the password screen.
But now he wondered if maybe Pidge or Hunk or anyone else could help him figure out the six-digit passcode.
He carefully rewrapped the tablet and put it in the duffle, cushioning it between the clothes before he looked up at Lance, who was nervously bobbing from foot to foot.
"Lance, I'm not going to freak out. I mean, I'm pretty sure the only thing that is freak-out worthy between the two of us is the whole half-Galra thing and you handled that way better than I did." Keith said, sitting back on his heels.
"You're going to be mad at me and hate me." Lance insisted.
"I'm not." Keith said with a sigh of frustration. "Now just spit it out already, will you?"
Lance took a deep breath and blurted out,
"I don't want to introduce you as my boyfriend to my family."
There was a long silent pause. Lance bit his lip as he watched Keith, who just blinked a few times.
"See! You're mad! You're going to kill me!" Lance moaned. "At least let me have a minute to say good-bye to Blue, to thank her for putting up with me and for being the best magic robot Lion a guy could ever have?"
"What, no, I'm not going to kill you." Keith said, shaking his head some to clear it. "It was just… I didn't realize we were boyfriends. I mean, we've been dating the last month or so, but I didn't know if you actually wanted to be boyfriends…"
"And, uh, a lack of clarification over whether or not we're 'going steady' is one of the reasons I didn't want to do that…" Lance admitted, sheepishly rubbing the back of my head.
"What are the other reasons?" Keith asked, returning to his packing. Lance was quiet for a moment, then Keith said, "I'm not mad, I just want to know why you don't want to introduce me to your family."
"I do want to introduce you." Lance argued. "Just… as a teammate first. See, the thing is… I haven't come out to them yet. As bi."
"Really?" Keith said, looking up again. That was a surprise.
"Yeah." Lance said. "I… I've pretty much told all of my friends before I've even mentioned it to my parents or any of my siblings or anyone I have any relation to. But that's not the only reason why I don't want to announce to them that we're dating. I have some reasons that are for them, and then some that are for you."
"For me?" Keith said, blinking again. "What do you mean?"
"I know how you get around new people, especially big crowds of new people." Lance said. "And I've seen my family swarm a new boyfriend or girlfriend and give them the third degree… The little kids especially."
Keith chewed the inside of his lip, but didn't say anything. He knew Lance loved kids. But Keith… The most exposure he had to little kids was in foster care and group homes, a time in his life he tried so hard to forget. Very few of those kids understood the concepts of personal space, and there was always someone crying or screaming. And Keith had resented the really little kids who got adopted much easier, who stayed in one home much longer. They were much easier at the whole people-pleasing thing. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't do the same and eventually stopped trying. Even now that he was a bit older, he felt awkward around kids and tried to stay away as much as possible.
Lance had already mentioned on more than one occasion that he'd love to be a dad someday with lots of kids. Whether biologically his or adopted, he didn't care. And Keith knew Lance had a heart big enough to do it, and that he would be an amazing father someday. But it was the one area Keith knew that, if there was any chance of a future between him and Lance, there was going to be some discrepancy.
But, even without all the little kids, Lance was right; Keith did not do well with crowds, especially crowds of new people. And that Lance was thinking of that was really nice and considerate.
"It's overwhelming if you're not prepared for it." Lance said, which Keith thought summarized everything perfectly. "Well, it can also be overwhelming if you are prepared for it… But anyways, that's why I thought it would be better for you to get used to them as just my friend, and vice-versa. And the reasons for my family is, well, I don't want to drop all these bombshells on them all at the same time. It's bad enough that I'm basically coming back and saying 'Hey, I've spent the last six months fighting an evil warlord in a giant magic, robot alien Lion and not actually dead but have come close a few times'. I don't want to drop the 'I'm bi' and 'Here's my boyfriend' bombshells all at the same time. And since I already know my mom's going to flip when I tell her 'yeah, I need to go back into space and fight said crazy alien warlord', I'd like to give her as few shocks as possible."
"No, no that's, that's fine." Keith said. "I get it. I do, really. I'm not mad. It's pretty logical, all things considered."
"You're not just saying that to make me feel better about this?" Lance asked, still looking nervous. "Or are you lulling me into a false sense of security so that you can murder me in my sleep?"
"Well," Keith said as he zipped up his duffle, standing up with a grin. "If I murdered you, I'd have to go through the process of finding a new boyfriend. You know how hard those are to come by in space?"
Lance slowly grinned, his shoulders relaxing, and he strode over to wrap his arms around Keith's waist, giving him a small kiss on the cheek.
"You are the best, you know." Lance mumbled into Keith's ear, giving it a gentle nip, enjoying as he watched the blush spread out on Keith's cheeks.
"So you finally admit it." Keith returned as he half-heartedly elbowed Lance in the side, which made Lance snort softly. "Come on, let's go get our marching orders."