Hey, so this was an interesting story to write. It started off a little weird and I wasn't quite sure where I was going to go with it but an idea hit me in the middle of it and helped me a lot. Had to get my Kallura in somehow, after all. Either way, please enjoy!

Keith had never been too sure on whether they could trust Lotor despite his words – despite the Galran saving his life. Something just didn't feel right. It felt…too convenient almost. It wasn't that people couldn't change but Lotor…why would he change all of a sudden? It just didn't fit. He had just come back from a Blade mission and as he entered the room, he realised everyone was tense. Being here had taught him even more to sense another person's body language and he could tell something was wrong, but he didn't remove his mask.

"Is everything ok?" he asked Kolivan, glancing over at him.

"Keith, your friends," Kolivan began, and Keith could feel himself beginning to tense as his fists clenched.

"What? What happened to them?" Keith's voice slowly began to rise. "Are they hurt?"

"They were assisting a planet," Kolivan explained. "But things got out of hand. It turned out to be a trap. It was a planet Lotor had told them he was governing."

Keith gritted his teeth. "I knew he couldn't be trusted. What happened?" He still didn't have enough information, but he would save his friends first and murder Lotor later.

"The princess was captured," Kolivan replied. "Without her, the Paladins cannot form Voltron."

Something twisted inside of Keith's heart when Kolivan mentioned Allura being captured. There was a time when he had been scared – when he had not wanted to take Voltron, even to save her. But he understood it more now when he had become the leader of Voltron. He hadn't liked not going for her even then but the thought of not helping her now felt different. Almost as if it were his responsibility.

Back then, it had been easier. She had been a princess, he had been a Paladin and while he cared for her, it was much easier to detach because he had never allowed himself the thought of getting close to them, of getting close to any of them. The universe seemed to have its own plans and he had only realised how much she meant to him when she avoided him completely for being half-Galra. The empty pit had grown larger in his stomach at the possibility of her deciding to cease ties with him. But now, it felt as if that pit had returned and was growing larger.

"They can still form Voltron," Keith said quietly. It would be a little complicated, but he did not mind piloting Red again in order to help his team. "Kolivan, I want to go on this mission with them."

Kolivan sighed. "I figured as much. They are your allies, after all."

"Friends," Keith subconsciously corrected Kolivan. If Kolivan had said 'allies' before Shiro's disappearance, he may have agreed with him. But once he had become the leader of Voltron, he couldn't imagine his life without any of them. Allura. Lance. Hunk. Pidge. Even without Shiro, he hadn't been alone. They hadn't left, at least not then. Which was why he had. He considered them friends, but he wasn't ready to hear that these feelings were not mutual.

"Friends then," Kolivan agreed. "A pod has been readied for you. The Castle's coordinates have been entered so you will be able to arrive there in a timely fashion so you can assist."

"Thank you," Keith said, immediately moving. He didn't have time to stay and chat. Allura was in danger and the others needed him. Well, they needed Voltron and so they needed him for that. With the speed of the pod, it didn't take him long to arrive back. Shiro and Hunk greeted him with a hug and for a moment, he melted into it, allowing himself to relax. The warmth was almost addictive, and he didn't want to pull away but seeing the downcast look on Coran's, he pushed that down as he pulled away.

It hurt to see the usually cheerful man so downcast and while Keith wasn't the best at comforting, he had to do something.

"We're going to get her back, Coran," Keith said quietly.

"If I may assist," Lotor spoke up and Keith sent a glare at the half-Galra, promptly causing him to stop mid-sentence.

"I think you've assisted enough," Keith said firmly before turning to Shiro. "Shiro, don't you think it's obvious he had something to do with this?" Maybe he was being a little reckless but even if he tried to logic things out, why did this happen in the planet that Lotor was governing? Why, when Team Voltron tried to free the planet on Lotor's instructions had things gone so wrong?

Shiro sighed, biting his lip. "It's hard to tell at this point. But I do think Keith has a point. Not everyone in the group trusts you after what happened to Allura." He looked over at Lotor who frowned at this.

"I can help," Lotor insisted.

"You've helped enough!" Coran, of all people cut in surprisingly enough and even Keith had to wince. He remembered that the older man had been disappointed before when Shiro had lost Allura, but this was different. His voice had raised, and his expression was crossed over into a scowl. Now more than ever, he was happy to have never gotten on Coran's bad side, which even that time had been for Allura.

"I don't think you should," Shiro said firmly. "No one will accept you coming with us. But Keith, we might need you to pilot Red so we can still form Voltron if needed."

Keith nodded. "Yeah, of course. That's why I'm here." He wasn't completely sure whether this dynamic would work again but it had once, and they still held the same bonds so they would do what was necessary to save Allura. He could feel a slight protest from Black, wincing internally. He didn't want to go back to Red either, even though he still cared about her, but this wasn't about him. It was about Allura. It was what they needed to do for her. He glanced over at Lance, Hunk and Pidge. They were quiet, even Lance who always had something to say. He walked over to the current Red Paladin, clasping his shoulder. "You ok?"

"It all happened so fast," Lance said frowning. "I didn't even get the time to try and warn the princess."

Keith shook his head. "It's not your fault. Let's save her together, ok? Blue might need you to stay calm for her."

Lance's expression firmed and he nodded. "Okay, let's go."

Good. That didn't take too long. Then again, his friends had always been good at prioritising, so this wasn't too much of a surprise. At least, Lotor hadn't insisted to come with them again because he wasn't sure how much time they had to argue with him. Finding the planet was easy enough and according to the intel they had, Allura was still somewhere on this planet.

"What's the plan?" Lance asked. The planet was empty. No signs of any life anywhere even as they looked out from the Castle of Lions.

"We may need to move out in our lions to search," Shiro said. "Blue will be able to sense Allura's quintessence the more we search."

"Will that work?" Keith asked. He didn't want to overstep Shiro, but something didn't feel right about this planet. Didn't Shiro feel it? He was good at sensing these things. He glanced over at Pidge who adjusted her glasses.

"There doesn't seem to be any signs of threat on the planet that we can pick up," Pidge said honestly. "However, that doesn't mean we should relax too much. Let's go in the lions and stay close, in case we need to form Voltron."

"Pidge is right," Shiro agreed. "Stay together, everyone."

"Okay," Keith said, hurrying towards the Red Lion. This felt odd now and he could sense Red felt a bit off too, but he pushed it down. This was not the time for personal feelings to get in the way. However, as he took to the air with Red, a fog surrounded him, and he could feel the others disappear. "Guys? Guys?!" He could feel himself, beginning to panic a little. What was going on? Where were they?

"It's not like this isn't something you're used to."

The voice was cold but also oddly familiar and it seemed to be coming from every direction. He looked around but he couldn't see anyone as he felt Red disappear too. He was now standing in an empty white space. What in the world was going on? Had he been captured too?

"Where am I?" he asked. "Who are you?"

"Don't you recognise me?" A younger version of Keith appeared, a little boy no older than 11. Keith's eyes widened as he saw that – what in the world?

"I don't…I don't understand," Keith said frowning. "What is going on? What's happening?"

"The same thing that always happens to us, Keith," The child said. "No one wants us. People always leave. Shiro changed too, didn't he? And that girl…you really love her, but she left too. No one wants us, Keith."

Keith stepped backwards from the child, wanting to put some space between them. He didn't want to hear these things. The things he had always been running from – the things he feared the most. Being alone.

"This isn't real," Keith said firmly, heart clenching into his chest.

"We don't want it to be, but it is," The child said again. "It's why you ran away, isn't it? You ran away because if you didn't, they would leave us like they always do. Even Shiro doesn't want us anymore. Stop running away."

"Shut up!" Keith snapped, moving to cover his ears, hands beginning to shake. That wasn't true. He wasn't alone. He had Shiro. He had the other Paladins. If that's true, where are they? Why did they leave? No, this was some sort of trap. It had to be.

["We need you."]

Allura's voice cut into his memory. It had been when he was pulling away. She could have just said that Voltron needed him because that had been the truth. But she had said 'we'. Shiro always said that people didn't use 'we' unless they cared. But his child self wasn't wrong either. Shiro had changed. He had made him feel as if he were a terrible leader – that he was doing a poor job of it.

"Why?" Keith asked, not sure who he was talking to. "Why do they always leave? Shiro promised to never abandon me."

"He lied to us," The child version of him said. "Just like our Dad did. Just like Mom left and all our foster Moms and Dads who said they cared."

Keith's eyes stung but he refused to cry. If he was used to this, why did it hurt so much? Why did he keep trying when it always ended like this?

"Keith."

"Leave me alone," Keith said, thinking it was his child self again, bringing out all the demons he had kept buried in deep for so long.

"Keith!"

No, that wasn't his child self. Something ripped into the white space, and he realised the voice was female and quite authoritative. He looked up to see Allura step inside. But how? Wasn't she captured?

"Allura? What? How?" Keith asked, mind still whirring.

"These aliens play mind tricks," Allura said softly. "Feed on a person's darkest fears. They did the same to me and because of my powers, I was able to sense your pain."

Keith bit down on his lip. "They're not fears. They're the truth."

"That you'll always end up alone?" Allura asked him and Keith flinched, unable to even hold it back but he refused to answer. Luckily, he didn't need to because she continued. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't care, Keith. I understand things are a little bit different and Shiro has been a bit…strange, for lack of a better term. But Shiro isn't all you have. You have Lance, Hunk and Pidge. And…you have me. I won't ever let you be alone."

She's lying. She's lying just like Shiro did. He left me alone. She will too. He was about to turn away from her when her arms wrapped around him, and he stiffened at first. He tried to pull away but when she refused to let him, he slowly relaxed into it.

"I'm not going anywhere," Allura repeated softly in his ear and slowly, Keith wrapped his arms around her too.

"I'll hold you to that," Keith whispered, closing his eyes. He knew there would be a battle but for a moment, just a moment, he could allow himself to feel safe with her. Like his younger self had called her, the girl he loved.