Chapter 1 – End of an Era

And with that, it was all over.

He kept looking back, hoping to see just one glimpse of the cargo ship holding all his friends, bursting through the wormhole at the speed of light. But there wasn't anything. All of them were gone.

Shiro, the spirit of leadership. The one they could count on to have a steady head and a straight heart. Even with the bumps along the way, the real Shiro would always shine through. The strong arms that could hold the world.

Keith, the spirit of courage. Bursting into situation where there was no possible hope for escape and, somehow, managing to get the whole team out alive. His best friend, though he didn't think in a million years that the feelings were mutual.

Pidge, the spirit of curiosity. She reminded him of his own hermana, witty and determined. How she'd laughed at his surprise at her little gender reveal party, as if he should've been nosy enough to find out on his own. How she could turn an enemy over on its head in seconds with a flick of a switch.

Hunk, the spirit of kindness. His best friend, whom he'd met day one at training. The boy he'd attached to immediately. How he'd been so lucky, he'd never know. Such an obvious choice for the yellow lion, and the cat had never wavered from its decision.

Allura, the spirit of determination. He didn't know if he was in love with her, or just deep in admiration. From day one, she'd held his ear and been a source of strength and knowledge. There was no challenge she couldn't overcome, absolutely nothing she couldn't do. He supposed only death could stop her.

Coran, the spirit of compassion. Perhaps…perhaps no one was beyond saving, and Coran understood that more than anyone. He understood how humans worked, or maybe was just willing to learn.

And him. Lance, the spirit of…of hope. Staring into the space-y abyss, where no hope could be found.

He collapsed on the floor and cried.

Lance woke to incessant beeping. He rubbed his eyes and tried to calm his shaking hands. It took a minute for his eyes to adjust to the moisture and lack of light. He stood and placed his hands on Shiro's console. The Voltron Coalition lit up before his eyes.

The leaders looked on him in silence, and he wiped his eyes quickly before slapping the button he hoped would turn on the lights. He looked up, trying to smile, but his mouth had seemed to forget what that was.

"Where is Princess Allura?" The Olkarian leader asked.

"And the other paladins?" Another chimed in, but Lance admitted he'd forgotten the name.

He took a moment to organize his thoughts. "They didn't make it."

The leaders took a moment to process this, and he could see it on their faces. The dismay, the anger, the sudden realization. "So all hope is lost."

I'm still here, Lance wanted to beg. But he didn't say anything, because he didn't exactly want to be alive, either.

"What will we do?" One wailed.

"The Galra will destroy my people without batting an eye!"

"Not mine," one clucked, "we're too valuable."

"Not everyone can be technical geniuses! We should've never joined in the first place."

"We're too close. If we break apart now, the Galra will reign for another ten thousand years. Who knows what damage they could do? Or if there would be anything to recover at all."

"I'm not risking my people over some foolish whim."

"Then what would you suggest we do? Without Voltron, all hope is lost."

They looked at Lance.

If the Coalition disbanded, they'd lose everything, all he and his friends had worked for. I did not leave Earth to have everything we've worked for fall apart. He remembered Shiro saying a leader had only failed if he didn't prepare his people to move on without him. He remembered the genius of George Washington from Hamilton, and wished he could have a better ending.

He tapped his fingers on the console. He couldn't let their sacrifices be in vain. But it would fall apart without Voltron, and he couldn't pilot it by himself. He took a deep breath, then looked up. "Give me two—give me twenty quintents. I'll assemble Voltron. If I haven't by then—do what you will."

The council seemed annoyed yet satisfied with that decision.

He changed into his normal clothes, despite having all the paladin outfits to change into. They'd gone into their last mission undercover, but he'd gotten into his armor after getting back to the ship, right before the wormhole closed and he lost them.

He walked into the hangar.

"Blue?"

Nothing.

"Hey, Blue. I just—I just wanted something familiar, I guess. Would you mind?"

Obviously.

He turned to Red.

"Alright, then. Let's go."

Nothing. He put his hand out, but the force field knocked him back a couple steps. He looked away for a second, collecting his thoughts. "Please." Nuh uh. "I don't want to. I'll find another leader, I swear."

The Black Lion stood behind him, though he refused to turn around. His eyes filled up with tears again, and he realized how Keith had felt. Defeated, he turned around and climbed into Black.

"Okay, so the nearest system is a couple dobashes away. It's a pretty diverse city, and it isn't under direct Galra control. I don't think they'll be looking for me, since I'm probably listed as dead along with the rest of them, so I should be fine. It's a pretty diverse city, so I'll just scout around, see who I meet, and find a couple people willing to become social pirates!"

Nothing. Man, this lion was weird.

Lance leaned back. "Listen. I know I'm not Shiro or Keith. I'm kindave an idiot. It's like Pidge said, I'm the goofball. But I'm not going to be myself. I'll be the leader Voltron needs, unless we find someone else. But I don't want to get in the middle of a battle and lose it. I need your help." He closed his eyes. "I need you."

His seat vibrated slightly, and he snorted. "Okay, that's just weird."

Was it like this for Shiro and Keith? He knew every lion was different. Flying Blue and Red had taught him that. But Black was so…weird.

Not that he'd say that out loud. In the cockpit.

Hazapok Station was crazy, but not as crazy as the market back home. He took the precaution of wearing a trashy looking cloak, even though few Galra knew what he looked like without the suit. People milled about, buying completely legal things under the supervision of scary looking security guards.

Shouting diverted his attention, and he whipped around to see a girl of about—a GIRL! HUMAN GIRL RUNNING AT HIM—*smack*.

He and the girl toppled on the ground, her on top of him. His mind, still reeling from the crazy in the last day, tried to process how a human girl had ended up so far in space. Granted, Pidge had done the same thing, but she had her reasons. She looked about as confused as him, her red hair all tangled up in front of her face.

Lance looked up to see two of the security guards in hot pursuit, guns out and blazing. Acting on instinct, he pulled out his shield and stepped in front of her. She still looked like she was in shock, so he took it upon himself to keep these guys off her back.

The quickly laid off their shooting, seeing they weren't going to get through his shield. "Stand down!"

"Hey, chill," he said, holding out his hand. "We can talk about this."

"Stand down." They held up their guns again.

He held up his shield. "Leave the lady alone."

"She has possession of unpaid goods."

Great, a thief. He glanced back, seeing a package hidden in her cloak. He rolled his eyes and looked back. "No need to open fire."

One of the guards threw off his cloak Obi-Wan style and pulled out a sword. Lance sighed and pulled out the red bayard. It turned into his sword, just as the guard made his first move.

In moments, the guard was on the floor. The others in the area didn't look too happy about that.

He turned and grabbed the girl's arm, leaning in. "Run." They bolted down the street, followed by the guards in hot pursuit. A couple times, he turned to take down a guard that got too close. One time, he lost his footing and toppled to the ground to avoid getting stabbed in the chest. The guard towered over him, but from behind, a sword-ish knife thing flew from behind and buried itself in his chest. He whipped around to see the girl stopped, still in her throwing position. Lance grabbed the weapon and bolted after her.

She bolted into an alley, and quickly evaded the guards.

Pressed up against the wall, she panted heavily, obviously not used to that level of physical exercise. He waited until she recovered a bit, then handed back her weapon. "What is that?"

"Who cares about mine?" She snapped. Her voice was deeper then he'd thought it would be. "Where in the world did you get an Altean Longsword?"

She knew her stuff. He looked at it for a moment, then released his grip. "It's a bayard." She gaped all the more. He attached it to his belt and held out his hand. "What's your name?"

She took a couple breaths, then stared at his hand. "Ari."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Lance."

"Why'd you stand up for me?"

"It's kindave what I do."

"What, traverse the galaxy looking for poor souls in need?"

He shrugged. "Kindave."

She squinted. "Who are you?"

He couldn't stop looking at her red hair. Sure, it could just be a coincidence, but he remembered one immigrant red haired kid back in Cuba without any chill. A hothead, a trait he considered linked to a certain lion. As if the universe couldn't be more obvious. "Why were you stealing stuff?"

She paused for a moment, then pulled the parcel out of her cloak. She unwrapped it slowly. "Haza's pretty strict when it comes to portioning, especially to kids." She pulled out a nasty green loaf he assumed was food. "It's not for me."

"So you do have a soft side?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" She snapped.

He straightened himself. "I'm trying to build a team, wondering if you could help."

"What kind of team?"

"The kind that saves the universe."

She squinted, not getting it. She looked down, either at his hips or his bayard, and her eyes widened. "Voltron." He nodded as her head whipped from his face to his bayard to the busy streets. "You're a paladin of Voltron?" He nodded. "This is insane. Wh—where are the others?"

He took a deep breath. He didn't really trust her, but he didn't not trust her either. Didn't make a lot of sense to him. Maybe it was a Black Lion thing, because Shiro and Keith had made really quick decisions and been right most of the time, whereas it took him twenty minutes back home to figure out which shirt to wear. "The other paladins were lost in battle, as well as many fighters."

Her eyes widened, but she hid herself quickly. "Sorry about that."

"I'm rebuilding the team."

"And you're just looking for anyone you bump into?"

Yeah, but you don't need to know that. He held out his hand. "You in?"

She looked at it in question, but only for a couple seconds. She shook his hand. "It's not like I have anything better to fight for here."

He smiled, but it felt fake and tight. She knew why. "Great. Now we just need paladins for yellow, green, and blue."

"English?"

"Nice guy, techie, and idiot."

A smirk spread on her face. "If you're interested, I know where you can find an idiot."

"I'll take what I can get."