Hi all!

Thanks for the great reviews! Red Lion2, you touched on something in your last review that will be answered in this chapter, I was glad to see you picked up on that.

There is only one more chapter in this story. Will it be my last Voltron story? I honestly don't know. If the muse strikes, I will run with it. I might do a quick 1 or 2 shot about Cady's wedding or I might do more with the original Force and them as young parents. Who knows. At the moment, I'm wrapped up in my Harry Potter stories and my muse is running rampant there :) We'll have to see what happens next.

Thank you!

Failte

All in all, over twenty people were taken to the station for questioning. Most of them too stoned to be of any help. They were all taken to the detox center in the new wing of the hospital where they were cared for under police supervision, all except for Mytch and the man and woman who had been in the shed with him. Those three were kept in the cells at the station to sober up.

The second Allura heard about what happened, she ordered the demolition of the abandoned house as soon as the police finished gathering any evidence they needed. She and Keith stayed by Tess' bedside while she slept off the aftereffects of having been drugged. Becca assured them that she would be fine, Tess had inhaled it secondhand and the effects wouldn't be as strong as if she had smoked it directly. Given a good night's sleep and some fluids, she would be just fine.

Brina knocked on the door to Declan's room where he had disappeared to as soon as they returned.

"What?"

"It's me," she called through the closed door.

"Come on in."

Brina typed in the code to unlock the door and entered. Declan was stretched out on his bed, his ankles crossed, his arms folded behind his head, and his eyes closed. Music played softly from his stereo.

"Dec?"

Not opening his eyes, he held his hand out to her and beckoned her closer.

She sat on the edge of his bed and took the hand he offered, "You're worrying me, Declan."

His eyes opened slightly and he smiled, "I'm fine, Brin, really."

"Tristan was worried about you," she said, stretching out beside him. "He said you were behaving like a madman."

"Don't mess with my sisters."

Brina kissed his cheek, "Hon, what is going on with you?"

"Did I ever tell you that when I was young, an old friend of my mother's, Kadmus, told us that there was something special about me?"

"What do you mean?"

"He said there was a special type of magic in me, I could see things."

"Declan, you're scaring me."

He rolled onto his side and faced her, "I can sometimes see things in my dreams, things that affect my family. When I was little, my parents thought there was something wrong with me, so they called Kadmus. He examined me and Gideon and he said that I had a special sight while Gideon is an empath. He's acutely tuned in to people and their emotions, especially people he's really close to. Ever notice how everyone feels a little better when he's around? He has a calming influence on us all and he knows how to help people. And what he has with Lynnai is really special. They connected at a very young age. Mom always said he was the most sensitive boy she had ever known."

"What do you mean you have a special sight?" Brina asked quietly.

"I can sometimes see what is going to happen to people I am close to before it happens, usually in dreams. It started last week, the dreams were dark and abstract and I was having bad feelings about all three of my sisters. Over the past few nights, they'd cleared enough for me to see that it was Tess who was in danger. I didn't want them to go in to town today because I knew something was going to happen, I just didn't know what. I saw her in a dark, smoky room, but I didn't know where."

"Oh, honey," Brina laid her hand on his cheek. "Why didn't you ever tell me about this before?"

He shrugged uncomfortably, "We don't want a lot of people to know. In the past, people have thought that I was psychic and that Gideon could make them happy, fix their problems. That's not how it works. There is magic on this planet and in the royal family, twins run in my mother's family and they've all had some kind of power. But it is directly connected to our family and the people closest to us."

"When Cady had been taken…"

He nodded, "I can't always pick out the details, but I can usually tell when someone in the family is going to be in danger. I've been accused of being overprotective and Cady can be very stubborn, not always listening to my warnings. I can't always give the where and the when, I can only keep a closer eye on whoever is threatened and hope I can do my best to stop whatever is going to happen."

"That's a lot of stress for someone to have dumped on them."

"Yeah, well, imagine being twelve years old and knowing that the man who was the closest thing to a grandfather you've ever had was going to go to bed one night and not wake up the next morning."

"You saw Koran's death?" She whispered, disbelievingly.

He nodded slowly.

"Oh, Dec, that's awful, I'm so sorry. I wish I had known about this."

"I've learned from it, I hope to use it to help people."

"We should have listened when you said you had a bad feeling going in to town."

"Well, my feelings aren't always completely accurate. I once started dreaming about something bad happening to Cady and all that happened was that she fell and scrapped her knee. If I had more to go on, more evidence to back up my dreams, then I would have gone to my father. But right now, with the ball and everything, I didn't want to give him more to worry about until I was sure there was something to worry about."

"How do you know when to go to your father?"

"When I don't think I can handle it on my own. It was stupid of me to hesitate this time, but I thought I could handle Mytch."

"You could handle Mytch, just not when you're greatly outnumbered by a group of drugged out psychos."

He smiled and kissed the tip of her nose, "Thanks, Brin."

"You know you can talk to me about anything, right?"

"Yeah, I know. This just isn't something that comes up in regular conversation."

"True. Are there any other…unusual quirks about you that I should know about?"

"Well," he slid his hand up and down her arm. "I've been told I am unbelievably sexy."

"It doesn't count if you're telling yourself that."

"Nah, I heard some hot redhead tell me that."

"Oh? Anyone I know?"

"You might," he tangled his hand in her hair. "Ever hear of Yulanda Dolaine?"

Brina gasped angrily and smacked his arm, "Not funny, Commander."

Laughing, Declan leaned closer and captured her lips with his, "I love you, Brin."

"More than you love Yulanda?"

"Of course. With her it's all about lust, not love."

Brina sat up and crossed her arms, turning her back to him.

"Brina, I'm kidding," he sat up and brushed her hair aside to kiss her neck. "You know you're the only woman I lust after."

"No, I don't know that," she said haughtily, tilting her head to give him better access to her neck.

"My beautiful Brina, I love you," he breathed, wrapping his arms around her middle and rested his chin on her shoulder. "Thank you sticking with me and for understanding me."

She brought her arms up behind her, wrapping them around his neck, "I love you too, Dec."

"I have something for you."

"What?"

Declan released her and climbed off the bed. "It's in here somewhere," he muttered, digging in the middle drawer of his desk. "Ah, here it is."

Brina watched him with interest, wondering what he was up to.

He knelt in front of her, holding out a small box. "I didn't get a chance to wrap it or anything."

"What is it?"

"Open it and find out."

Biting her lip, she pulled the top off and whispered, "Oh, Dec, oh honey…"

"When Tristan proposed to Cady you said you would like some pretty jewelry and I saw that and it made me think of you."

She leaned forward and kissed him, "It's beautiful, I love it. But you didn't have to get me anything."

"I wanted to."

Brina lifted the delicate chain and held it up. The pendent was a simple emerald solitaire cut in a rectangular shape and set in gold. "Thank you, Declan."

He took it from her and undid the clasp, leaning forward, he slid his hands around her neck and fastened it. "You're very welcome, Brina. You're the only girl for me, you know that right?"

She cupped his cheek with her hand, "And you're the only guy for me."

"Damn right," he murmured, forcing her back on the bed. "And don't you forget it."

Brina giggled as he stretched out on top of her, "I don't think you'd let me forget it."

Pressing a line of kisses down her throat, he grinned, "Let's just say I'll make sure you never forget."

Keith stood in Castle Control, feeling suddenly very old and tired.

"You okay, man?" Lance asked, stopping by on his way out.

He looked up, seemingly confused by the interruption, "What?"

"Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine."

"How's Tess?"

"Still sleeping."

"Any word from Paton?"

"No, we probably won't hear anything until tomorrow, you saw those kids, they were seriously messed up."

Lance nodded, "What happens now?"

"Well, that was apparently the largest of their drug labs and we've shut it down and we're going to tear down the house."

"I have to admit, man, that it feels like we're fighting a losing battle."

"What do you mean?"

"I think this drug problem is bigger than we realize."

"Lance, we defeated Doom, we can take care of this problem."

"Have you decided if you're going to have the ball or not?"

"I don't want to, but there are people already traveling from other planets. Becca said Tess will be fine in the morning, so Allura and I talked about it and if she's up to it and if Cady and Tristan still want to go through with it, we will."

"If you wanted to cancel it, the visitors coming in would totally understand."

"I know," Keith sighed. "We'll decide after we talk to Paton, see what she thinks."

The next morning the Force gathered early in the conference room. Keith sat at the head of the table, a day's growth of beard darkened his face and circles under his eyes showed his lack of sleep. Allura was still in the hospital wing with Tess, but Hunk, Lance, Pidge, and Paton were seated around the table.

"Good morning, gang," Keith greeted them half-heartedly as they sat down.

"How's Tess?" Declan asked.

"She's fine, a little spooked, understandably, but she'll be fine. Becca just wants her to stay while she eats something to make sure it stays down."

"What was she drugged with?" Brina asked.

"Becca did some testing and found that it was the smoked version of asperaine benziontate. She thinks that Tess was locked in the shed where people were smoking around her, you all saw how bad it was in there. She inhaled the secondhand smoke and it went straight to her head."

"So, what's next?" Gideon asked.

Keith nodded to Paton who took over the meeting.

"We spent last night searching the house," she explained. "And we hit the jackpot. We found correspondence from Vinn in the basement of the house, it was supposed to have been destroyed, but they didn't get the chance to before we found it. It is exactly what we needed to tie him to this. We found that he has been acting as the middleman, connecting the supplier on Planet X'tpol and the buyer here, a man by the name of Dankan Litoria and his girlfriend, Nator Vandi, they were the two others in the shed with Mytch. They had also started the gatherings at the house, it had been deserted since the war with Doom, kids hung out there all the time until a part of the second floor collapsed. It had been forgotten about until Dankan found it and he and some friends fixed the damage and squatted there. They have been meeting there for several months now, and as you all saw, whatever goes there. Charges will be filed against everyone partaking in illegal activities, including kidnapping. We're going to work with the Intergalactic Policing Force to stop the transporting of these drugs from X'tpol."

"Is this the end of all the drug problems?" Tristan asked, uncertainly.

"It will certainly be a huge dent in it."

"What do we do now?" Declan asked his father.

"Well, now that everyone is safe, you guys have the day off to prepare for the ball tomorrow."

"We're still going to have it?"

Keith nodded slowly, "Everyone is safe and sound, Tess feels all right and she said she didn't want this incident to stop the ball. Paton said she and her officers have everything under control with the people they brought in last night, quite a few out of planet guests have already started on their way here. You will all be on duty at the ball, so I expect you to be armed and ready and I am upping the number of guards on duty. So, unless you guys have anything you want to discuss, you're free to go, just stay in the castle."