Hi all!

All relative disclaimers apply, etc…you know the deal.

As a side note, I just wanted to say I finally got my hands on the first issue of the new Voltron comic.  So far it's pretty cool, can't wait to see the next issue.  Check it out!

This chapter is just for fun, showing them to be the young, twentysomethings they are.  I have to admit, there is more cursing than usual in this chapter, just a warning ;)  And they run into an old friend. 

Enjoy,

Failte

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            The next week was a whirlwind of activity.  Lance and Darcy entertained her family, took them around town, seeing museums, shopping, and eating at some of the finest restaurants.  He introduced her to some of his old friends and visited his old haunts.  Keith and Allura did many of the same things with his family. 

            On Thursday, Keith and Lance spent most of the day at the Academy, meeting with students, talking and answering questions.  While they were busy doing that, Darcy gave Allura, her family, and Keith's family a complete tour of the Academy.

            By the time Friday rolled around, they were exhausted.  Keith and Darcy's families were flying home the next morning, so they had one last evening to be together.

            "My mother just wants to be with Cady," Keith told them as they ate lunch Friday afternoon.

            "Why don't we let her babysit and hit the town?"  Lance suggested.

            "What did you have in mind?"

            "Let's take Becca, your brother and sister, and Leslie and Lawrence and go hit a few bars."

            "Send them home hungover?"

            "Yeah."

            "It could be fun," Darcy added. "I haven't been able to take Becca out since she became of legal age."

            "But what about your parents?"  Allura asked her.

            "They'll want to turn in early.  They have to be at the airport at nine."

            "Sounds like a plan," Keith said.  "We haven't been able to go out since Cady was born.  Where do you want to go?"

            Lance thought for a moment, "Well, we can start at Draft's and then maybe move onto Eclipse."
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            After one last dinner with everyone together at a popular Italian restaurant, Keith and Allura left Cady in Isabelle's capable hands.  Gerald and Allyson weren't feeling up to going out.  So Keith, Allura, Lance, Darcy, Becca, Lawrence, and Leslie left to start the night early.

            By nine o'clock, Draft's was just starting to wake up.  It was early enough for them to grab a table in the cramped, sports themed bar.  Huge televisions lined the wall opposite the bar.  Three pool tables and an air hockey table were in the back corner by the jukebox. 

            Lawrence bought the first round.

            "I never thought I would be out drinking with my military tactics professor."  Darcy said.

            "I'm surprised you haven't," Lance told her.  "Lawrence frequents the bars around the school."

            "You're just jealous, my prowess with the ladies was always more successful than yours."  Lawrence lifted his glass to his brother.

            "You were no match for Lance, Keith, and Sven when they hit the town."  Leslie smiled.

            "You came here to pick up girls?"  Allura asked her husband.

            "I came here to play pool, I couldn't help it if the girls were all after me."  Keith said.

            "You?"  Lance asked, incredulously.  "They were all terrified of you, the dark, quiet one.  Nah, it was all me and Sven."

            "Yeah, I always had to drag your drunk asses back to the dorms." 

            "If it wasn't for you, Sven and I would've probably died in a ditch somewhere.  For that, I owe you a drink."  Lance waved over the waitress and bought the second round.

            "Were you always so well behaved?"  Allura asked Keith.

            "I was the voice of reason."

            "He was the dull one."  Lance said.

            "Dull one?"  Keith asked.  "Just because I've never been arrested doesn't mean I'm dull."

            "You were arrested?"  Darcy and Allura asked in unison.

            Lance shrugged, "I only had to spend a couple hours in jail, they let me go with a warning."

            "That was a fun phone call to get," Lawrence said.  "Hey, Lawrence, could you come get me?  Don't tell Mom and Dad, but I was arrested.  You still owe me for that one, twerp."

            "I think you got your payback, I covered for you when spent the night with Bonnie Mann."  Lance pointed out.

            "Eww."  Leslie interrupted. "Lawrence, Bonnie Mann?"

            He pulled out his cigarettes, "I was young and stupid and she had a nice body."

            Darcy held up her hands, "Wait a minute, you're getting off track here.  What were you arrested for?"

            "Public drunkenness."

            "How old were you?"

            "Seventeen."

            "Oh, so you were underage too?"

            Lance smiled, "I was able to charm my way to a warning.  Good thing the arresting officer was a woman."

            Lawrence snorted, "Good thing you had a clean record and Officer Jakes knew Dad."

            "Mom and Dad know about it."  Leslie told him.

            "What?  How?"  Lance asked her.

            "They found out a couple years ago at the Lyker's Christmas party.  Mr. Lyker's a detective with the police and I guess he was there when you were brought in and he joked around with Dad about it.  He wasn't too happy, but what could he do now."

            "Oh, so I don't owe you anything."  Lance told his brother.

            "You owe me a beer."  Lawrence held up his empty glass.

            "I got this round," Keith stopped a passing waitress.

            By the time the third round was finished, Darcy, Becca, and Allura were all feeling rather good.

            "You're a lightweight," Lance whispered to Darcy as she and Becca giggled.

            She stuck her tongue out at him, "I'm sorry I can't be the lush you are."

            "Come on, Lance, a pool table just opened."  Keith stood.

            Darcy stood on unsteady feet and grabbed Becca's hand, "Come on, Bec, let's play air hockey."

            "You play air hockey?"  Lance asked.

            Darcy put her hands on her hips and looked at him, "We're from Canada, we know all about hockey."

            "I haven't played in ages."  Becca confessed.

            "Neither have I, they don't have air hockey on Arus."

            Their group made their way toward the game area.  Lawrence and Leslie teamed up against Keith and Lance while Darcy and Becca took over the air hockey table, showing Allura the finer points of the game.  The only thing they really showed her was how difficult the game became when you were drunk.

            The fourth round went straight to their heads, leaving the three inexperienced drinkers feeling loopy.

            "Who's winning?"  Darcy asked Leslie, swaying slightly.

            "We have four balls on the table, they have two."

            "So they are."

            "Yup."

            Darcy watched Keith take a shot and send a ball into a pocket, strengthening their lead.  After missing the next shot, Lawrence stepped up and knocked one ball in before missing his next shot.

            "Want help?"  Darcy whispered to Leslie.

            "What do you have in mind?"

            Darcy winked at her and sneaked around behind Lance.

            "Don't even try it, Darcy, you can't distract me."  He warned.

            "Is that a challenge?"
            "No, no, Darcy, you can't interfere."  Keith said.

            "Is that an order, Captain?"

            "Yes."

            "Too bad, I'm off duty."  Darcy stuck her tongue out at him.

            Allura and Becca giggled.

            Keith raised an eyebrow, "You're drunk."
            "Maybe."

            Lance looked at her, "Take a step back and let me take this shot."

            Darcy stepped back and put her hands behind her back.

            Lance turned his back to her and bent over the table.  He lined up his shot, slowly pulled back the cue.  Darcy's hand shot out and pinched his behind.  He missed.

            "That doesn't count!"  Keith said.

            Lance whirled around to face her.

            "It counts, he said she couldn't distract him and she proved him wrong.  It's my shot."  Leslie stepped up to the table.

            Fighting her laughter, Darcy looked up at Lance as innocently as she could, "What?"

            "You know what."

            "I can't be held accountable for my actions."  She told him. "I'm drunk."

            Becca burst out laughing which caused Darcy to lose it.  They held each other up as they laughed.

            "You'll pay for that."  Lance tried his hardest to sound stern.

            "Oh, honey, would it help if I bought you a drink?"  She asked him.

            "It might."
            "Okay, go buy me a drink and I'll let you have some."
            Allura laughed.

            "You've had enough."  Lance said.

            "Nope, I think I can have some more."  She threw her arms around his neck.  "And because you're my boyfriend you hafta buy me a drink."

            "I have to?"

            "Yup."

            He kissed her forehead, "Here, prop your sister up."

            Darcy leaned against Becca, "I'm so glad you came down so we could visit together."
            "Me too."  Becca patted her arm.

            "Where's Lance?"  Keith asked.

            "I think he went to get me a drink or to the bathroom or something.  I don't know, I left his leash at home."
            Keith laughed, "You are so drunk."
            "No, I only had a couple of drinks.  I'm just a little tipsy."

            Allura wandered over, "Lawrence says you have to take Lance's shot cause he's gone."

            Keith smiled at his wife, "You're drunk too."

            "I am?  I don't think I've ever been drunk before.  It feels kinda weird, not bad, just odd.  I've had wine before, but never this much."

            "You're going to feel horrible tomorrow morning."

            "How come you're not drunk?"

            "I can handle my alcohol better and I weigh about fifty more pounds than you.  I'm feeling the alcohol, but I'm not drunk."

            Allura patted his cheek, "You're so cute.  If I had gone to the Academy, I wouldn't have been afraid of you, oh dark, quiet one.  I'd have thought you were really sexy."

            Keith steered her to a stool by the wall, "Sit down before you fall down."

            Lance came back and handed Darcy and Becca each a beer, "This is it, you're both cut off after this."

            "You're not the boss of me."  Darcy stuck her tongue out at him.          

            "Wanna bet?"
            The three women sat on stools by the wall, watching them play pool.

            "I suck at pool," Darcy whined.

            "Me too."  Becca said.

            "I've only ever played it twice, so I don't know if I suck or not."  Allura said.

            "I'll give you something to suck, baby."  Some guy said as he walked by.

            The three of them exchanged looks.

            "Ewwww!"  Allura cried.

            Darcy laughed, "Want me to tell Keith?  He can kick that guy's ass."

            "He'd wipe the floor with that punk," Allura said, proudly.

            "Check out the guy by the jukebox," Becca whispered.

            "Oh, he's cute."  Darcy said.

            "Yeah.  Go talk to him."  Allura added.

            "Can I borrow a dollar for the jukebox?"  Becca asked her sister.

            "Lance, come her a sec," Darcy waved him over.

            "What?"  He asked.

            "Can I have a dollar?"

            Lance pulled out his wallet, "What for?"

            "So I can lend it to Becca so she can pretend to care about music so she can flirt with the cute guy by the jukebox."
            Lance furrowed his brow, "What?"

            Darcy sighed, frustrated, "Just give Becca a dollar."

            He handed Becca the bill and turned back to Darcy, taking the beer from her hand, "You're cut off now."

            "Gimme that back."

            Lance shook his head and smiled, holding the beer above his head.

            Darcy stood on her toes and reached for the glass.

            "Darcy!"  Allura said in an exaggerated stage whisper.  "Let him have it, I'll have Keith buy us another round."

            Darcy stuck her tongue out at Lance and sat back down.

            "Well, isn't this a surprise."

            Lance turned around and came face to face with Jesse McCormick. 

            There was a history of bad blood between Lance and Jesse.  They hadn't seen or spoken to each other in over a year, when Allura had written up a royal decree, forbidding Jesse from stepping foot on Arus as long as Darcy was there.

            Lance stiffened. "McCormick.  What are you doing here?" 

            "I'm just out for a drink with some friends."  Jesse smiled.

            "I thought you were in New York."

            "My uncle is speaking at the graduation ceremony next week.  I thought I would come and hear him speak, see some old friends."

            Darcy stood and clung to Lance's arm, trying to keep her balance.  "You don't have any friends, Jesse, who are you trying to impress?"

            Jesse turned his gaze to Darcy, "Well, look here.  Little Miss Perfect is drunk."

            "I'm not Little Miss Drunk."

            Lance looked at her, trying not to laugh, "Sit down, Darc."

            "No, I wanna stand."

            Allura stood beside Darcy, "I know you."  She said to Jesse. 

            "Your Highness," Jesse bowed.

            "No, I'm a Your Highness on Arus.  On Terra, I'm just Allura Whitaker.  You can call me Mrs. Whitaker, but I don't really want to talk to you at all, so don't call me anything."

            Lance put his face in his hand and laughed.

            "Is everything alright?"  Keith came over, with Lawrence and Leslie at his heels.

            "Yeah, why don't we head over to Eclipse."  Lance told him.

            "Sounds good."

            "What's Eclipse?"  Darcy asked.

            "It's a dance club."
            "I can't dance."

            "Yes you can.  Come on, it's a great club."

            They gathered Becca and headed toward the club up the street.  Eclipse was packed and the music was loud.  Leslie found an empty table in a back corner where she and Becca sat while Keith and Allura and Lance and Darcy made their way to the dance floor and Lawrence went to find the bar.

            The dance floor was so packed they were pressed against each other and bumping into everyone around them.  Darcy closed her eyes and moved with the music.  She didn't have any rhythm, but she was drunk enough to not care.  Opening her eyes, she didn't see Lance.  At first she was confused, not understanding where he went.  Her head swam.  She felt a hand on her shoulder, turning, Darcy found herself face to face with Jesse.

            "Leave me alone."  She said, shaking his hand off her shoulder.

            "You look like you need a dance partner."

            "No.  Go away."

            He smiled at her, "I never saw this side of you, Darcy.  Maybe if you had been like this when we were together, I wouldn't have broken up with you."

            She shook her head, "Leave me alone."  Pushing her way through the crowd, Darcy tried to find the table.  There were so many people and she couldn't remember which way was the back of the room.   She spotted a small woman with long blonde hair and made her way toward her.  The woman turned around, it certainly wasn't Allura.  Her alcohol laced mind made it hard for her to comprehend what was going on.  It was so loud and crowded.

            A hand grabbed her arm.

            Darcy gasped and tried to pull away, "No!"

            "Darcy!"

            She turned, it was Lance.  Throwing her arms around his neck, she clung to him. "Where did you go?"  She yelled over the music.  "You weren't there.  Where did you go?"

            "It's okay, baby, we were separated in the crowd.  What happened?"  He rubbed his hands up and down her back, feeling her shake.

            "I couldn't find you and then Jesse showed up and then I couldn't find the table…"

            "Whoa, wait," Lance pulled back to look at her.  "Jesse followed us here?"

            She nodded.

            "Where is he?"

            "I don't know.  I want to sit down."

            Lance kept an arm around her shoulders and steered her toward the table Lawrence sat alone, nursing a beer.

            "Is everything alright?"  He asked over the noise.

            Lance sat her in a chair, "Stay here.  Lawrence, don't let her go anywhere."
            "Lance," Darcy held his hand.  "Don't.  Just leave him alone."

            "No, this all ends now."

            Lawrence stood up, "What's going on, Lance?"

            "Stay here, make sure Darcy doesn't go anywhere.  I have some business to take care of."  Lance disappeared into the crowded dance floor.

            Darcy stood up, Lawrence grabbed her arm.  She looked down at him.

            "He's going to start a fight, Lawrence, we have to stop him."

            Lawrence ran a frustrated hand through his hair, a gesture very reminiscent of Lance.  "Shit.  Stay here, I'll go find him."

            "But…"

            "Darcy, you're wasted.  Stay here, keep the table."

            Before Lawrence could go anywhere, there was a disturbance on the dance floor.  The crowd had stopped moving and had stepped back   Ignoring Lawrence's warning, she followed him through the crowd.

            Keith was holding Lance back while Jesse swiped a hand under his bleeding nose.

            "What don't you get, McCormick?"  Lance shouted.

            "I can come here if I want to, Collier.  This was an unprovoked attack.  Someone call the police, I want to press charges."  Jesse shouted back.

            Darcy pushed her way through and stood in front of Lance.  He was furious.  "Stop it, Lance, let's just go home."

            "Go ahead, call the cops!  We have enough on you to file harassment charges.  You want to try for two planets where you can't come anywhere near her!"
            "Alright!"  A large man dressed entirely in black with bulging biceps about ready to rip through his t-shirt sleeves, pushed through the crowd.  "Take this outside, we don't want any trouble here."

            Darcy and Allura followed Keith and Lance out the door, a few minutes later Lawrence joined them with Leslie and Becca.

            "What's going on?"  Leslie asked.

            Her question was answered when the bouncer stormed out, holding Jesse by the arm.  Jesse brushed off his shirt and waited for his two friends to join him.

            Leslie's eyes narrowed, "It's you."

            "Shit, the whole insane Collier family is here."  Jesse muttered.

            "You're the guy who took me and my parents to Arus when Darcy was injured."  Becca said.

            "Yeah, I try to do something nice…"

            "No," Becca interrupted.  "You're an asshole."

            Lance snorted, "That about sums it up."

            "Come on," Keith put a hand on Lance's shoulder.  "Let's go.  We have to get to the airport early tomorrow."
            "Once again, Keith comes to your rescue."  Jesse taunted.

            Lance whirled around and brought his fist into Jesse's stomach.  He watched as the other man doubled over.  "You want to do this when Keith's not around?  Name the time and place you worthless little shit."

            Darcy grabbed Lance's arm, "He's not worth it."
            Lance slid his arm around her shoulders and they turned, starting up the street.

            "Who is that guy?"  Lawrence asked.

            "Jesse McCormick.  He makes a habit out of harassing women, particularly Darcy and Les."

            "You know him?"  Lawrence asked his sister.

            "Yeah.  Remember that time I visited the Academy?"

            Lawrence stopped in his tracks, "That was him?"

            She nodded.

            Lawrence turned on his heel and walked back towards Eclipse.  Without saying a word, he tapped Jesse on the shoulder.  When he turned around, Lawrence pulled his fist back and delivered a punch that left Jesse on the ground, seeing stars.

            "I've wanted to do that for a long time," Lawrence growled.  "She was fourteen, you sick bastard."

            Jesse stared at him, shocked.

            "Nice."  Lance said when Lawrence joined them again.

            "His nose is never going to be the same again."  Darcy commented.

            "If he keeps bothering you," Lance told her.  "He won't have a nose at all."

            She smiled at him, "My hero."

            "Hey, it's tough work.  Trouble seems to follow you."

            They stopped at the corner and hailed a couple of cabs.  It was two in the morning when they stumbled into the house.  Becca collapsed on Darcy's bed while Leslie passed out on the living room couch and Lawrence ended up in the recliner.