I do not own Voltron or anything even remotely associated with it. Heaven knows if I did, I would still have the toys.

En-Route

Laughter rang loudly through the room on the transport ship where the four space explorers were gathered, echoing out into the hallways and causing a passing crewman to shake his head yet again at the passengers. Even after seven days spent in each other's company, the original members of the Voltron Force seemed to be incapable of tiring of each other's presence or of reminiscing. At first glance it seemed that not much had changed, and yet it had.

Garbed in matching GG uniforms as they would be arriving at Arus within a few hours, the four men lounged much as they had in their "sanctuary" in the palace back in their glory days. An open book on his lap, Pidge sat off to the side in an arm-chair, the strange bird-like creature he had brought with him perched on his shoulder. Hunk, naturally, occupied the better part of one sofa, his even larger gut threatening to sink the cushions all the way to the floor. Lance and Keith occupied two chair similar to Pidge's, the former with his feet resting against a coffee table while the latter, true to form, seemed not have relaxed an inch. Keith was laughing just as hard as the others, however, in remembrance of one of the numerous pranks they had played on Nanny in revenge for her continued snubs and sniffs of unworthiness. Even after five years the woman had never warmed to any of them, unless the Princess was somehow in danger. Mentally Keith corrected himself for what seemed the hundredth time. With his friends again, remembering all that had happened, it was easy to forget she was a Princess no longer. She was a Queen now, Queen of Arus...he wondered idly if he would ever be able to address her as such.

Of them all, Pidge's appearance had changed the most. Some order had finally found its way into the brown hair he kept short now and his glasses were no longer the overwhelming feature of his face. Gone were the boyish freckles and even the sometimes reckless grin. His voice, too, had developed into a pleasant baritone whose only fault was its sometimes overwhelming note of seriousness. Lance had put it best when he first laid eyes on the former pipsqueak–he was now taller than both Lance and Keith–when he said, "Never would have thought you'd turn out so decent looking." The usually somber Pidge had socked him for it but Lance had simply laughed hysterically and given the youngster a swipe in return. Keith had been surprised, however, by the reserve now present in his nature. Pidge had never been one to be so quiet before. Looking back, he guessed that it had begun to show in their later years on Arus and he simply hadn't noticed, but it was strange to look at the slender young man sitting so calmly with his pet of sorts on his shoulder and know that he was once the boy always getting into one scrape or another with the palace mice. Briefly he wondered if she still communicated with them, too, though several generations of mice would have been birthed between now and then. As if he sensed his thoughts, Pidge's gaze flickered to his, serious as always behind his glasses and Keith forced himself to meet it steadily. Did Pidge have any time for women? With that face and his air of mystery...no, he doubted Pidge looked at anything other than his books and his experiments and the strange creature on his shoulder he called Mycin. He envied his obliviousness. Mycin made all of the former space explorers uncomfortable though they didn't dare say so to their youngest companion. Keith told himself it was because Mycin was unidentifiable. Even Pidge wasn't sure what kind of animal he was. It certainly seemed bird-like, but its tail was like a dog's but twitched like a cat's. Of a brilliant blue hue, its under-fur was red, and its eyes glittered the same color. It had tufts that looked somewhat like ears, feet that looked like talons and arms that resembled paws. Looking at it, it almost seemed that someone had taken bits and pieces of all the animals they had liked and combined it into one strangely disturbing creature. All this Keith could ignore, except for Mycin's eyes. There was the faintest hint of intelligence there that unnerved him, almost as if the hybrid animal understood exactly what they were talking about and was laughing at them all. Throwing Pidge a carefree smile, Keith shrugged and dropped his gaze in order to watch the gradual decrease of the cushions on Hunk's couch. If he was aware that the young scientist still watched him, he gave no outward sign.

Hunk, thankfully, was the same as ever, despite the extra inches added to his waistline. His hair was still long and unkempt, his nose still large and even more so now, after having been broken several times. His temper was still easily provoked and his sincerity unquestionable. Once Keith had thought he would never find another soul with a bigger heart; ten years had failed to convince him he was wrong. Never had he surprised his friends more than when he resigned his post from GG nearly nine years ago in order to marry and run a farm on one of the planets he had been sent to. Keith had never met his wife, Lyra, but he was certain that she was as slender as Hunk was wide and from the way the big man spoke about her, she was his world. They had five children already, four boys and one girl who was the image of her mother. The boys, from what Keith gathered, ran amuck and failed to do their chores and got into countless fights with all the village boys. The fact that they won only made their father proud, however, even as he scolded them for using their superior size to their advantage. Even after hearing Hunk talk about them–in detail–it was hard to imagine his friend content as a farmer and a father. In a way, he envied Hunk for that, too. He would never be able to live such a life, however. As much as he hated and denied it, Keith knew he needed action in his life. Retiring to a farm without any cares in the world sounded wonderful, but within weeks he would be going mad, wondering what he was to do with all his free time. Had he been any other way he never would have survived at GG for ten years.

And then there was Lance. Hands resting behind his head, his lips had their trademark smirk upon them as he teased Hunk about the steadily sinking cushions. His hair was mussed, his uniform looked wrong on him still, but he was undoubtedly Lance and he always would be. During their days at the Academy, Keith would have sworn on his graduation that he would be the better friend with Sven fifteen years later, had anyone asked. The irony of its being Lance that he was closer to never ceased to strike a chord with him. With the exception of Sam, there was almost nothing the two men had in common. Both saw the world in completely different ways, one acted before he thought while the other thought sometimes too long before taking action. And try as he might, Keith could not dissuade himself of the notion that had their situations been reversed, Lance would not have waited ten years to return to the planet whose memories haunted him. Catching his eye, Lance threw Hunk one last comment about the sinking sofa before choosing Keith as his next target.

"If you fall, big guy, Keith will be laughing too hard to hypothesize about the evil that has undoubtedly brought us all together once more. I'm surprised he hasn't gone into shock, sitting here talking about mundane things for so long."

"I don't see any need to 'hypothesize' here when we're just going to have to do it all over again at Arus."

"Dost my ears deceive me? Keith? Turning down a strategy session? You really have changed." Mockly Lance threw his feet to floor and put a hand against his heart. Keith kicked at his chair and missed.

"I'm not going to fall," Hunk interjected, heaving a huge sigh and sinking lower. For a moment his three companions simply grinned at each other and then Lance resumed his mission.

"You can't be serious, Keith. Don't you want to have our plans all worked out before we present them to Coran and his cronies?"

"I rather think they'll be presenting them to us. Things won't have changed there, Lance."

"Aww, come on. You really think that after ten years of distinguished service across the galaxy, excluding Hunk's glamorous occupation of farming of course, that they're still going to treat us like errand boys?"

"Isn't that all we ever were, no matter how many times we saved them?" Keith replied quietly. Fingers idly running through his book, Pidge looked from Lance to Keith and said,

"Shouldn't we consider that we might not be meeting with Coran at all? Allura may be running things now, or perhaps her..."

"Nah. I'll bet Coran's still got his nose in everything. It always was kind of long," Lance interrupted carelessly, throwing Pidge a warning glance that the youth blankly returned.

"Subtle, Lance," Keith said dryly. Lance shrugged but his brows raised along with his companions as Keith suddenly rose and walked across the room. Studying the wall for several moments, Keith squared his shoulders and spoke in a voice that sounded much stronger and impartial than he felt,

"I want all of you to stop tip-toeing around me where Allura is concerned. You've all been careful not to mention her name this past week unless it was necessary and while I thank you for it, it is unnecessary. Speak of her all you like, you needn't think to spare me any hardship. There isn't any."

Deliberately he turned and looked over his shoulder at them, unaware of how striking a profile he made, and how completely he resembled his former self. True, his hair was shorter and his face a trifle haggard, but in that moment he was once again the Captain of the Voltron Force and after a startled pause, his team responded almost automatically in the old manner.

"We didn't mean anything by it, Keith," Hunk said apologetically, running a hand through the mane of black hair he had no hope of taming. One brow arched on the Voltron captain's forehead even as he smiled carelessly.

"I know. It just struck me as ridiculous."

"Can you believe he still thinks he can order us around?" Lance said loudly to Pidge who was looking at Keith rather strangely even as his lips curved into a smile. Reaching for the nearest pillow, Keith promptly threw it at his second-in-command and laughed as Lance promptly dove out of its path.

"I may be your commander again, so I'd watch it if I were you," Keith reminded jestingly, flinging himself down into his chair once more and attempting to sprawl in true Lance-like fashion.

"I'm scared," Lance said, covering his face in mock-fear and earning another pillow thrown in his direction. Looking over his former team for a moment, Keith's grin promptly faded and he leaned forward, resting his elbows across his knees as he said,

"About Arus...let's make a pact." Lance groaned loudly but both Pidge and Hunk sat up a little straighter as Keith continued, "Things probably haven't changed there in ten years, at least not where we're concerned. I, for one, haven't the stomach to be treated like an errand boy at the defined age of thirty-five. I'd like to think that Coran and the others won't pull the old routine, but if they do, we won't take it. Lance is an ambassador, Pidge is one of the most respected scientists in the galaxy and Hunk is an average citizen, but a man nevertheless while I...am Galaxy Garrison's most valued individual. It still isn't the same level as a Pr...Queen, but it is far higher than a space explorer."

"You can't possibly be Keith," Lance moaned, burying his head in his hands. Head tilted to one side much in the same manner as Mycin, Pidge studied his former commander for several moments before a slow smile broke out across his face.

"I take it back, you have changed. Perhaps not entirely for the worse. I'll accept this pact."

Keith nodded at him, his own lips threatening to stretch into a smile. Shaking his head, Hunk held up a meaty fist and said slowly,

"I don't think it's a good idea, but I'll go along with it. Never thought I'd say any idea of yours was bad, Keith."

"You have. Once."

"I have?"

Keith nodded, trying to ignore the spasm of pain that went through him as the big man's brows drew together in obvious confusion. It was foolish of him to think that the others would remember. All of them had been in opposition to the plan that had eventually led to Lotor's death at his hands, but he had overruled them, saying they had no choice. He supposed it was rather fitting, actually, that the ones opposed to it had had the least trouble forgetting what had disturbed them so and he, who had wanted it, now wished it hadn't occurred. In his chair, Lance raised his head and threw Keith a speculative look, his fingers twitching.

"I seem to remember a certain Captain who constantly rebuked a team member for having similar sentiments ten years ago."

"Ten years ago we were a motley crew of space explorers...and we did stand up to them...occasionally."

"And what good did it do us?"

"Very little, I admit, but I do think it's wise for us to be prepared. It might be completely unnecessary. If Allura has any semblance of power, she won't allow them to become too high-handed.."

"You have a lot of faith in a woman you haven't seen in ten years," Lance remarked, his look becoming speculative.

"Is there a reason I shouldn't?"

Lance shrugged and continued to fiddle with the end of his chair, his reluctance to give an answer puzzling his friends. After several moments, he heaved a sigh and said,

"All right. I'll go along with this. Ten years ago I would have killed for you to say this...why now?"

"I don't know," Keith answered and rose from his chair to stare at the wall again.

The set of his shoulders warned his companions not to risk further conversation and for the first time since their reunion, a tense, uneasy silence settled around the former members of the Voltron Force. Staring blankly at the wall, Keith wished that he really didn't know why he was so adamant they return to Arus on equal footing. It was too wrapped up with Allura and the treatment Coran and Nanny had given them throughout their stay on Arus for him to tell the others without revealing things better kept private. Even now he hated that the feelings of not being good enough lingered within him. While on Arus, he had tried his best to dismiss them, to discourage them in the others, but he had never been able to rid himself of them either. Nanny he understood. No one would ever be good enough for her Princess, he suspected, and they had been such a ragamuffin bunch. It was no wonder every instinct within her was screaming to keep them away from her darling girl. But Coran...Coran's veiled snubs had sometimes stung, partially because Keith respected him more than most of his colleagues at GG and had thought that it was mutual. He knew he was not king-worthy material, such delusions of grandeur were foreign to his nature. But he didn't want to apologize for being what he was anymore. He was distinguished in his own right and it mattered far more than he wanted to admit that those he had left behind at Arus were able to see and acknowledge it. Hours from Arus and he was a wreck already...what would he do when they reached the planet's surface? Not wanting to contemplate it, Keith turned away from the wall and tried to smile as he asked,

"Who wants to be the first to trip Nanny?"

Their good-natured arguing over the privilege of being the first to renew their onslaught of pranks on the elderly woman occupied them until landing.