Hi all!

Once again, all relative disclaimers apply. 

Thank you all for your wonderful and helpful reviews.

Anony~ Thank you for your review.  I understand what you mean about describing her eye color.  Before I posted that chapter I gave serious consideration to rewording that sentence.  But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted it to be Keith standing over the crib, reflecting upon his daughter and what he needed to do to protect her.  So it was meant to be a general description.  Sorry if it caused any confusion.  Next time I'll go with my instinct and reword it :)

Enjoy,

Failte

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A week had passed and Keith was pacing his study, frustrated. Nothing had happened. He wanted to think they were safe, but he couldn't know for sure. Was this person lulling them into a false sense of security? Did they know the Force was investigating? Even if it had been a joke, it wasn't funny and they needed to find whoever it was.

"Come in!" He barked when there was a knock on his door.

"Everything alright, Keith?" Pidge walked in.

"No."

"Oookkaaay," Pidge drawled. "Want to talk about it?"

"I'm just a little pissed that we haven't found anyone."

"But we can't let our guard down for fear that they're just lying in wait."

"Exactly!" Keith slammed his fist on his desk. "Dammit!" He fell into his chair and looked up at the man in front of him. "I'm sorry, Pidge. What's up?"

"I'm not on duty tonight."

"Thanks for letting me know, it's not like I put the schedules up or anything."

"Wow, you sure are in a pissy mood."

Keith glared at him across the desk.

"Anyway, I was thinking that since I do have the evening off, I could take Becca into town. You know, a real date."

Keith sighed. He felt bad about keeping the Force in lockdown. Everyone was experiencing cabin fever. Hunk and Paton had put their wedding planning on hold, which left Paton angry since Hunk couldn't tell her why. All of which put Hunk in a really bad mood.

"I don't know Pidge. I mean, I understand where you're coming from and I know how much you guys want to go out, but I'm not comfortable having our computer guy out of reach."

"I won't be out of reach, Cap, I'll take my communicator with me and we'll only go out for dinner. Two hours, tops."

Keith ran his hand through his hair and rubbed the tight knot in the back of his neck, "I'll give you five to seven. That means be back here at seven, don't leave the restaurant at seven."

Pidge grinned, "Thanks Keith."

"Yeah, yeah. Just make sure your communicator is on and take a car, if we need you, I want you back here immediately."

"No problem." Pidge turned to the door. "Don't worry, man, we'll find out who did this and we'll get them."

"I know. Thanks Pidge."

The door slid open and Pidge almost ran into Allura who was about to enter. She clapped a hand over her heart and gasped.

"Sorry, Allura, I didn't see you," Pidge took her arms to steady her. He leaned in and whispered, "Watch out, he's in a bad mood."

She smiled at him, "Thanks for the warning, but I think I can handle his mood."

Pidge flashed her a smile and took off down the hall.

"He certainly seemed happy," Allura announced, entering the office.

Keith watched her cross the room toward him. "I just gave him permission to take Becca out for their first date."

She smiled, "That's so sweet. Remember our first date?"

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, "How could I forget."

Allura rounded the desk and stood behind him, gently massaging the knots from his shoulders. "Dr. Gorma had released me two days earlier. He made me stay longer than I wanted to, saying the wounds I had received from my latest bout with Lotor were worse than I thought they were. But you, my knight in shining armor, had rescued me."

He closed his eyes and tilted his head forward as she worked on the kinks in his neck, "I had a little help."

"I only remember waking up in the hospital and seeing you there," she dropped a kiss on the top of his head. "At the time, Alforia was still pretty much in ruins, there wasn't any place for you to take me on a date. So you packed a picnic and Lance's radio." She kissed the back of his neck. "You took over the Observation Deck, ordered everyone to stay away, unless there was an emergency. You lit candles around the room, pushed all the chairs back against one wall, laid out a blanket." She slid her arms down, crossing them over his chest and nuzzling his hair. "We had a picnic and danced until late into the night.  I was so shocked that the Captain of the famous Voltron Force liked dancing so much."

"I didn't.  It was just the most subtle way for me to be able to get my hands on you."

Allura laughed, "Since I was hoping you would put your hands on me, I'll forgive you."

Keith slowly stood and turned to face his wife, "We haven't had a date in a while."

She smiled mischievously, "I think the last one we had was about six months ago."

Smiling, he placed both hands on her stomach, "Yeah, that was a good one."

"We'll have to do it again soon."

Keith took her hands in his and pulled her against him. With one hand on the small of her back and his other hand clutching hers, he twirled her around the desk until they were standing in the middle of his study, swaying gently together. "I promise you, Angel, as soon as this is all over, I will take you dancing all night."

"Well, maybe not dancing, but at least out to dinner."

"Deal." He pressed a kiss to her lips. "Now what did you come in here for?"

"Do I need a reason?"

"I guess not."

"Maybe," she threaded her fingers through the hair at the back of his neck and leaned against him as they continued swaying. "I was just feeling lonely and I really wanted to see you."

"Or?"

"Or the cribs arrived."

"And they need to be assembled."

"Yup."

He dropped his forehead on her shoulder.

"You don't have to do it right now and you only need to do one for now."

"Why?"

"Dr. Gorma said they should share a crib at first, it'll make the separation easier on them."

"Really?  But they're just babies."

"Yeah, but they're spending nine months in extremely cramped quarters, they're used to being together."

Keith nodded, "I guess it makes sense.  I'll get on it later."

"Thanks honey," she kissed his cheek.  "I'm glad you're not in a bad mood any more."

"Who said I was in a bad mood?"

Alllura rolled her eyes, "You don't hide it well.  I have to go meet with Koran, I'll see you at lunch."

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Pidge tried combing his hair down.  It insisted on sticking up in various directions.  He usually never let his hair grow this long, it was entirely unruly.  Lance and Keith both kept their hair on the long side and it looked really cool on them.  Pidge recognized a losing battle when he saw one and threw the comb down on the sink.  As soon as this all passed he would get a haircut.

He grabbed a long jacket that would hide the blaster he had holstered on his belt.  With the defeat of Doom, they had gotten out of the habit of carrying their weapons with them everywhere, but since they didn't exactly know what was going on they had all started carrying them again. 

With one last attempt at smoothing down his hair Pidge left his room. 

After talking to Keith earlier, he had gone straight to Becca's room. 

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Her door was unlocked and she called for him to come in rather than answering the door herself.  She was sitting at her desk emailing her friends back home.  He had obviously caught her off guard.  When she saw it was him, she blushed and jumped to her feet.  Her hair was pulled hastily back with a blue clip, she had no make-up on, and she was wearing a pair of torn jeans, an old Toronto Blue Jays t-shirt and no shoes. 

Trying to regain her composure, Becca put a hand on her hip and gave him a weak smile, "Hi, Pidge, I, uh I thought you were Darcy.  Um, what's up?"

Pidge looked her up and down.  She looked cute and earthy.  He really wished she would stop trying to impress him by dressing up and just be herself, "Huh?"

"What's up?"

"Oh, yeah," he walked into the room, looking around.  It wasn't a guest room and so it was quite empty and dull.  "This place looks barren."

"Well, it's just a place to sleep, it's not like I'm staying around that long."

Pidge grimaced.  He hated being reminded of their short time together.  "Anyway, I just talked to Keith.  I'm off tonight and he just gave me permission to leave the castle for a couple of hours."

"Oh yeah? That's great."

He froze, suddenly realizing he had never really asked anyone out on a date.  His only other experience with women had been Renata and they would take walks, watch movies, and just hang out around the castle.  They had never gone out on a date.

Becca watched him.  He was staring at her, but she had the feeling he didn't see her.  "Pidge?"

"Um, would you, uh, would you like to go out to, uh, dinner with me?"  Nerves caused him to fumble over the question.

"I would love to."

"Really?  Uh, great."

Becca laughed, "Did you really think I would say no?"

He shrugged, "There's always that chance.  I mean, you could've had plans with Darcy or something."

"I'd have broken them for this.'

"You would have ditched your sister to go out with me?"

"Yup."

He smiled at her, "So I'll come get you at five?"

"You're on."

"Alright then, five it is."  He turned to leave.


"Pidge."

He looked over his shoulder and saw her motioning to him with her index finger.  Confused, he crossed the room to her.

Becca leaned in and gave him a quick, sweet kiss.  "See you at five."

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Becca stood in front of the bathroom mirror and surveyed the image before her.  She never thought of herself as very pretty but rather plain.  Of course her mother and her mother's friends have always told her how pretty she was, but that didn't count.  She had had her share of dates and boyfriends over the years, her longest relationship lasting six months. 

While she was comfortable around guys, more so than Darcy ever was, they were usually always just friends.  That's what happened with Pidge.  But he was so different from the other guys she hung out with.  He was easy to talk to, intelligent, and kind.  She knew that she had fallen for him before he had felt anything for her.  When she had come to Arus back in January, when Schuyler was born, they hadn't had a lot of time to hang out.  She had been helping Lance with the baby while Darcy recuperated.  But when it came time for her to board the ship back to Terra, he had gone with her to the tarmac.  He had hugged her good-bye and they had clung to each other a little longer than necessary.  She smiled softly at the memory.

Becca was brought back to reality when there was a knock on her door.  She glanced at the clock on the bedside table as she crossed the room and saw that it was exactly five o'clock.

"Becca," Pidge smiled and held out a clutch of daisy-like flowers.

"Oh, Pidge," she sighed and accepted the flowers.  "Thank you.  Let me put them in some water and we can leave."

With his heart pounding, Pidge watched her go into the bathroom.  She looked beautiful.  Her hair loose around her face, just as he liked it, and she wore a simple blue dress he had seen on Darcy, but Becca filled it out better, and the necklace he had given her. 

"Where are we going?"  She asked, walking back into the room, the flowers in a glass of water.

"A little restaurant in town.  We have to be back by seven and I know they can get us in and out."

"That sounds nice," she grabbed her purse and took the arm he offered.  "You look nice."  He did look good, wearing a light blue dress shirt under a tan sports coat. 

"Thank you.  You look beautiful."

Becca blushed slightly, "Thank you."

"Ah look, do you have your camera, honey?"

Becca looked up as they entered the hall and saw Lance standing in the doorway to his room.  A moment later Darcy appeared with a camera in hand.

"Their first date!  Don't they look cute?  Smile!"  Darcy held the camera up to her eye.

"I'm going to kill you," Becca told her.

"Just wait until Dad sees this."

"Darcy!"


"Oh, calm down, I'm kidding."  Darcy winked at her little sister.  "Have fun."

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"How'd you get the scar on your chin?"  Pidge asked as he bit into his sandwich.

Unconsciously, Becca traced the thin line along the curve of her chin, "When I was eight the neighbor's dog bit me.  Three stitches.  I had hoped it would have faded more by now."

"Nah, it adds character."

She smiled, "Thanks.  I'm sure you have bigger scars with better stories."

Pidge snorted, "Don't try to romanticize the evil we fought."

"Sorry."

He winked at her, "If you're good, I'll show you my scars some time."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, but you have to wear that little green nightgown."

"That's how you define being good?"

"It doesn't hurt."

"Excuse me."

They both turned to see a young boy standing beside their table.  He held a pen and a piece of paper and was grinning up at Pidge.

"Yes?"  Pidge asked, dreading what was coming next.

"You're Lt. Pidge Audric, right?  From the Voltron Force?"

"Uh, yeah, I am."

"Can I have your autograph?"

Inwardly, Pidge groaned.  He hated this part of being a member of the Force.  He felt so silly signing his name on a piece of paper.  But he smiled and held out his hand, "Sure.  What's your name?"

"Arin."

Pidge scrawled a quick message on the paper and handed it back, "Nice meeting you, Arin."

"Wow, thanks!  Now I only need to get Captain Whitaker and Sgt. Barlow."  He grinned and turned to skip back to his table, waving the paper.

Pidge looked up to see Becca smiling at him, "Don't."

"What?"  She asked.  "I think it's sweet."

"It's annoying," he whispered.

"You're a celebrity."

"No, I'm not.  I'm a pilot.  Just a pilot."

Becca reached across the table and covered his hand with hers, "You are so much more than just a pilot."

Pidge's gaze locked on hers and he felt an electric jolt straight through his chest.

"Will there be anything else tonight?"

Pidge looked up at the waitress, forgetting they weren't alone. "Uh, no thanks.  We need to head out so we'll just take the check, please."

"No problem, I'll be right back."

"I had a lot of fun tonight, Pidge."

"So did I, Bec, I hope we can do this again soon."

Pidge left the check, with a generous tip, on the table and offered Becca his hand. 

"It's such a beautiful night," Becca sighed as they walked outside.

"I need to check in with Keith when we get back to the castle, then maybe we can go for a walk around the lake," Pidge said as he opened the car door for her.

"That would be fun."

It was a two mile walk from the castle to Alforia, however the first half-mile was actually the driveway up to the castle.  When they reached the driveway, Pidge leaned over the front seat and asked the driver to stop.  It was 6:40, they still had a little time.

"What's going on?"  Becca asked.

"Let's walk the rest of the way."  Pidge opened the door and got out, offering his hand to her.

The sun was just starting to set.  Since it was closer to autumn on Arus, the days weren't as long as they were on Terra.  It was warm, but a breeze kept it from being unbearable.  They watched as the driver pulled ahead and started toward the castle's garage.

Taking her hand, Pidge started across the huge lawn.  "I am so glad you came here for your summer break, Bec."  He admitted shyly.

Becca squeezed his hand, "So am I."

"I'm just sorry that we've been so busy."

"That's okay, I've been spending a lot of time with Dr. Gorma."

"Oh really?  Is this something I should be worrying about?"  He teased.

"No," she tugged at his arm.  "We've been talking about medicine and the procedures he's performed.  What he did for Darcy after she was shot is amazing."

"You are going to be a great doctor."

"If I can make it through med school."

"You will.  You'll do great."

Becca stood on her toes and kissed his cheek, "Thanks for the support, Pidge."

"That's why I'm here."

Becca gasped as they drew closer to the castle.  It rose before them, imposing and beautiful.  The setting sun reflected off the windows and metal. 

"Amazing, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"It used to be…"

Becca had heard Darcy talk about 'soldier mode' and she was now seeing it first hand.  Pidge stopped in mid-stride.  His posture stiffened as he pulled himself up tall.  His hand reached for his communicator and he dragged her over to a clump of trees.

"What is it?"  She asked, nervously.

His voice was low and his tone serious when he spoke.  "Look up at the castle."

She did.

"Notice anything?"

Becca shook her head.

"No lights."  Before Pidge could dial anyone on his communicator, it beeped.  "Audric."

"Pidge, where are you?"  Keith asked.

"We're just outside the castle, Keith.  I noticed the lack of lights."

"We're completely cut off.  We're all locked in the dining room."

"I'm on my way.  We'll be coming in through the catacombs."

"Copy that.  Keep us posted."  Keith ended the transmission.

"What is going on?"  Becca asked, her voice shaking.

Pidge turned to her.  "Rebecca, I need you to trust me and do as I say.  Stick very close to me, keep very quiet, and stay calm."

She nodded.

"It'll be alright."

Biting her lip, she nodded again.

He dropped a kiss on her forehead, grabbed her hand and they hurried towards the castle.