The back of the transport pod continued to hold a somber atmosphere as James brought them around for the return journey to the school. Only a minute or two passed before Lance sat in the copilot seat and changed their trajectory. James side-eyed Lance and followed his lead, but still muttered, "Feel free to fill me on at any point. Allura kind of freaked me out back there."

Lance returned the side eye with a raised eyebrow. Then dialed out on the coms. James heard the waver as he tried to control his voice to say, "Do not take survivors to the school. Meet us at the castle. There's been a development." Then Lance switched control away from James and suggested, "Go to Ina and the others. Let them know we're going to the castle."

James chewed the side of his cheek. Was Lance dismissing him? Yet he sounded so genuine. Whatever they had seen really messed with them. Still confused, James replied, "Alright. I'll send someone up."

Lance nodded, eyes focused on the sky ahead of them. The pitch of the transporter jolted and James had to hold onto the safety rail not to lose his footing. He passed Matt, nodding in greeting, though Matt still looked quite pale. When he finally reached the passenger bay, the other paladins and the princess weren't there. Had they stayed in the cargo hold?

Ina bit her lip and reached out. James immediately went to sit beside her and took her hand. She leaned close and muttered, "What's happening? Why is the ship ascending?"

James rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb and kissed her temple. "Simple change of plans. We'll know more when we land."

He saw the concern in her eyes and knew he hadn't done a great job of hiding the fact he didn't have any information. He looked away and felt her lean her head on his shoulder. For the rest of the flight, James concentrated on holding his emotions in check. Act the part. You're a soldier now.

When the transporter finally landed and the engines began to wind down, the paladins reappeared. The others spread out, but Pidge stood as tall as she could and said, "We have arrived at the Castle of the Lions, but we don't have much time to prepare. Officer Kogane and his team are bringing casualties here for treatment and analysis. This hangar will act as a triage center. Please assist as you are able."

The other passengers murmured and moved to follow Pidge from the pod. Ina met James's eyes one final time before Hunk came up to them and whispered, "You two should come with Allura and I to the infirmary. Just a caution, I promise."

James followed Hunk and Ina, yet Allura wasn't in sight. The further they went, the more suspicious he grew. Had Keith outed them to the other paladins? Then Ina leaned in to whisper, "It's alright. I told them."

James felt his eyebrow raise and squeezed her hand, trying to calm his nerves. So far no luck. Then they entered an immaculate white space almost as large as the school gymnasium. Then Hunk started striding toward a large sliding door.

The couple of times he'd been here did nothing to help guide James through the maze that was the castle. Keith had made it seem like the paladins held some kind of mental link to the ship itself. James couldn't help but wonder if that was how Hunk knew where to lead them. After all, he had only been up here a few more times than the other school survivors.

Then they entered a pristine medical ward. Allura practically waltzed through the space, confident and capable as she set up what looked like the most complicated ultrasound machine James had never seen. Hunk reached for Ina's hand, taking it in both of his, and guided her to the table.

She sat and gave a small, "Oh!" in surprise. When James shot a glare at Hunk, Ina clarified, "The table's warm, James. I just wasn't expecting it."

Allura pulled on a pair of elbow length surgical gloves that met with the sleeves of her overcoat. A mask couldn't hide the smile in her eyes. "I can handle everything from here, Hunk. The others will need you." Hunk reached out to give her a side hug, but she dodged back and chastised, "Not while I'm gowned up!"

Hunk smirked and rested his hand on James's shoulder on his way out. "Congratulations."

The next hour was spent reviewing the video and images Allura had taken of their unborn child. Allura had questions about diet and exercise as well as known hereditary risks. Then they talked about potential unknown factors. When James was sure anything he could possibly have asked was answered, Allura reached out and rested a hand on Ina's wrist.

There was a mild hesitancy when she said, "I know it might seem forward, but I believe it would be best if you spend the rest of your pregnancy aboard the castle. We have plenty of tasks you can perform to help our allies on the ground... and when the time comes, we can assist with the birth. We have a maternity ward and everything you could ask for."

Ina bit her lip and looked to James. "I'm not sure. Everyone we know is at the school."

James rubbed Ina's shoulders and told Allura, "We'll think about your offer. I'd hate to be so far away, but I'd feel better knowing you're safe, Leif."

Allura removed her clinic overclothes and pulled off her gloves. "Thank you. Your consideration is all I ask." Allura waved an arm graciously guiding them from the clinic. "The castle intelligence can guide you to your room whenever you're ready to rest. Though I'm sorry you may have roommates. We've only finished refurbishing a portion of the castle's living quarters and with Keith bringing so many survivors, we're a bit pinched for space."

James wrapped an arm around Ina's back and followed Allura. "We're more than comfortable sharing space." He smiled at his girlfriend, then glanced back to say once again how thankful they were only to see Allura turn away to hide the worry in her eyes that didn't meet her smile.

For the first time since they'd landed, James remembered the rushed flight that brought them here. The baby had been a distraction, a welcome one, but now James felt an urgency to return to the hangar and assist as much as possible. Then Ina squeezed his hand and he knew there wasn't a chance he'd leave her side.

They left the infirmary, Allura disappearing further down the hall. Kissing Ina's temple, James whispered, "Are you tired?"

Ina nodded and leaned into his chest. "Do you think I should stay here?" James was about to reply when voices around the corner made him pull Ina to a stop.

"Hunk and his parents are in the east wing. You did it, Keefy."

"I still wish you could have been my backup, sharpshooter. We've been through so much. I trust you to cover my back." Keith whispered, "And there's something else... I don't know how to tell the others, but I think Red may have decided on my replacement."

"Oh? Where is the lucky person?"

"I'm serious, Lance... Though I think you should tell me why we're here instead of the school."

James found himself leaning around the corner of the hall, but Ina pressed into his chest, encouraging him to stay put. Keith's voice lowered to a bare whisper when he gasped and said, "Hey, Lance. Lance, please... Don't be sad. Lancelot... babe..."

Then James heard a stifled sob and he actually did lean around the corner to see Lance folded into Keith's embrace, face tucked into the curve of Keith's neck. James watched as Keith pressed his cheek into Lance's hair and closed his eyes, brows drawn in pain. "Lance... what happened is not your fault. Whatever happened... please, talk to me."

"It... The things they were doing... oh god, I don't even know," Lance stammered between sobs. Then he started collapsing, knees buckling, and suddenly they were both on the floor, Lance clinging to Keith's broad shoulders. "The empire's druids... were... extracting quintessence from a pregnant woman. Something to do with the fetus made them..."

"They're experimenting on unborn children... Fuck."

James released his held breath, suddenly noticing that Ina was shaking in his arms. Shit. They weren't supposed to be witnessing this. Let alone that Keith and Lance seemed much closer than James had ever thought possible. He turned on his heel to pull Ina back to the security of somewhere else, his shoe squeaking in his haste.

"Who's there?"

Keith's question was a harsh demand. One James didn't think he could avoid without causing a disturbance. But he didn't get a chance to. When he turned to look over his shoulder, Keith and Lance stood in the hall, weapons drawn and dead serious. James flinched, and then both men had relaxed back to social norms.

"James, Ina," Keith addressed with a curt nod. His sword vanished in that strange pulse of light.

Lance cleared his throat, eyes still slightly red, even if his cheeks were dry. "Did Allura-"

"Yes," James quickly answered. "Yes, we saw the baby and she offered the castle to us."

"Is it true?"

James bit his lip and closed his eyes. Then he hugged his pregnant girlfriend tighter. Keith was the first to speak. "I know Allura and the paladins saw something. I felt... I feel what they felt, James. Of course, the rescue mission will impact everything we do here and... and... I'm not really sure what our next step will be. We were looking for our missing paladin, but if the druids have already started siphoning quintessence from Earth..."

Keith trailed to a standstill and Lance finished, "After the miners are settled, will you bring the other seniors to the conference hall? What we do from here on out will affect the entire planet. Whatever we decide, it's only fair to hear your opinions and ideas as well."

"We will," Ina responded. "Though I think we're a bit turned around as to how to get back to the hangar."

"Oh, that's nothing," Keith stated. To the hall, he said, "May I request an audience, your majesty."

James jumped when the hologram of Allura's father appeared in the space beside Lance. The regal man nodded and said, "Greetings, Paladin. How may I be of service?"

Keith placed a hand on his heart and bowed slightly at the waist. "Our friends need an escort to the main transport hangar. Though if you could also inform them of where they will be staying for the duration of their stay, it would be very appreciated."

"It would be my pleasure." The hologram folded one arm behind his back and gestured down the hall with the other. "Please."

Kincaid noticed James return without Ina from where he helped the refugees they'd rescued. Close to ten thousand individuals ranging from his own age to around sixty had been brought to the castle. Ten thousand people and countless unknown who could only be listed as MIA. They all knew the truth though.

Everyone was tired. Tired, filthy, desperate for some kind of peace. More than a few simply sat holding themselves or crying. Worst yet, most of the people who had been with James and tasked to help weren't really prepared for what they had to do. A couple of the school 'kids' had already left unable to cope.

James crossed the floor and rested a hand on Ryan's arm. Ryan glanced up, but James kept scanning the crowd. Ryan finished passing out blankets and food and stood to see what James wanted. James only jerked his head to follow. Stepping a few feet away, Ryan asked, "What's going on?"

James leaned close, eyes still on the room, "Once everything's calmed down, Keith and the others have something to discuss with us. Can you spread the word? Ina's a bit upset already and I don't want to make it worse."

Ryan raised an eyebrow, curious, but also concerned. "Yeah, sure. This is the last thing she needs to see right now."

Slight movement caught his eye and he turned to see Keith separate from Lance and cross the ward. He moved with an almost unnatural stealth, practiced and unnoticed by almost everyone. He still wore that strange dark outfit he preferred over most normal clothes. With his hood up, he really looked like he could be inhuman. And that cat followed a step behind wearing that silly little outfit.

The survivors seemed to give Keith more distance, but there was always the possibility that Keith simply took the most open route. James and Ryan watched him stop by the princess's advisor, then walk to Pidge and her brother. Lance spoke to his sister and her girlfriend. Then the paladins all left together.

James mentioned the meeting place, then followed them out. For the next hour, Ryan continued doing what he could, spreading the message whenever the opportunity arose. When the castle AI spread out to start guiding people to places they could sleep and clean up, the seniors gathered to their own night rituals.

When they entered the dark room, Keith held Allura tight to his chest. Lance gently stroked the cat next to him. Ryan knocked on the wall and cleared his throat. Keith stepped back, but didn't break contact with Allura, instead reaching up and cupping her cheek. He murmured something too quiet to hear, and she nodded. Glancing up at him, she bit her lip and finally stepped out of his hold.

She folded her hands at her waist and cleared her own throat to say, "Thank you all for coming on such short notice. Between the successful rescue operation and James's mission to retrieve medical supplies, we have an opportunity to help many individuals. However," Allura's voice cracked and her eyes began to water. She bit her lip and furiously wiped her cheeks. "However, a more dire situation has made itself apparent."

Pidge tapped the holographic table and footage from the hospital appeared on the surface. "Be prepared, this is very graphic."

Ryan folded his arms and noticed James and Ina weren't watching. He simply held her against him, his hand on her hair. Had they already seen it? Then the voices started.

"What are you doing? Where am I?"

"Sedate the specimen."

"No! Get away from m-"

Ryan looked at the screen to see galra dressed in long labcoats strap an unconscious woman to a table. A screen monitored her vitals. Another dressed in long flowing robes wearing an almost avian silver mask approached the woman. The footage was shot from behind cover, never showing the whole picture. Then Lance's voice came through the feed.

"That thing above her... Shit, it's a-"

Lance was cut off as the room lit with purple. Whoever was watching ducked into cover and the footage jumped to another camera to see brilliant golden light streaming from the woman's pregnant body into the air, siphoning into a single point above her. The footage began to shake and then they were pulled down back into cover by Hunk.

"Lance, we need to go. Now."

Lance nodded, breaths coming quick and uneven. "Take the lead. I'll cover you."

They left the room and a final glance back showed the woman lay unmoving, but the steady tick of her heart had flatlined. The footage ended. Ryan swallowed the lump in his throat. Whoever that galra was, he'd killed that woman without even touching her. Then the realization hit him and he was the first to break the silence.

"Is that what they are going to do with the school?"

Keith's level gaze flicked from the others to him and he answered, "It is very likely. More intel is needed to determine how long they have been on Earth. It could have something to do with the blue lion being found on our planet, or any number of speculations. We simply don't know at this time. However, this cannot be ignored."

"What exactly did that bastard do?" Veronica asked. Ryan raised an eyebrow at her tone, but a glance under the table showed white knuckles where she clutched Rizavi's hand.

Keith opened his mouth to speak, but Allura interrupted, "Perhaps we can provide a small demonstration?" Keith met her eyes, an impossible question she seemed to understand. She smiled softly and reached out with both hands. "The galra there is known as a druid. My planet had people who held the same abilities, though we called them alchemists."

Keith shifted to face her and took her hands. His posture relaxed and his chin dipped almost to his chest when he closed his eyes. "Channeling quintessence and communing with others has always been a sacred act. The process opens others up to everything that you are. All your joy, pain, strengths, and weaknesses are laid bare. You can give or take. Allura, when you're ready."

Ryan watched as their side of the room began to light up. At first it was almost imperceptible, then there was no doubting it came from them. The halo of soft light spread throughout the room, a calming energy that Ryan couldn't ignore. It seemed like witchcraft.

Then the light faded and Keith opened his eyes. Stepping up to the table, he leaned on the table. His cat paced over and settled as close to him as she could get. "I know it's hard to believe, but the science of the druids is legitimate. And those... monsters... have stolen countless life. I know because I communed with a balmeran crystal. It held a history thousands of years old."

Lance shifted to stand beside Keith, resting a hand on his back. "We need to minimize casualties of our entire race. Our planet is dying, guys. The empire has made sure of that. All we can do is survive. That's how we honor what has happened to everything we love."

Ryan waited for someone to speak. They were barely adults and they wanted to determine the fate of the planet? No one seemed to know what the next step could be.

"What can we do?"

Ryan barely heard Ina's question in the silence. Pidge offered her a thankful half smile and started pulling up graphs and schematics. "We have to evacuate as many civilians to the castle as possible. We can no longer afford to keep any non combatants on the ground."

"Especially kids," Hunk added.

More than half of the room nodded in resolute agreement. Ryan asked, "So how will we bring the kids to the castle?"

"It's going to be a large scale evacuation. We'll need the entire school to cooperate." Lance tapped the table's schematics and the sewer system of the entire city lit up. "The admiral will be the most difficult to convince."

"Leave her to me," James finally spoke up.

"No," Keith replied. "I have an idea for that. Guys... it's time to return to where this all started." He shot Pidge a smirk and leaned on the table. She swiped her schematics up and a familiar building filled the table. "We're going back to the Garrison.

They finished talking about how they planned to get the civilians out of the school several hours later. The castle AI actually appeared to tell them that all of the rescued minors had found their rooms for the night. Veronica watched the others file out, tired but satisfied with their plan. She noticed Keith and Lance seemed just as awake as always. Lance tapped Keith's arm with the back of his hand and signed something too fast for her to catch. Keith smirked back.

Veronica pulled Rizavi to her feet and started following the AI from their makeshift war room. Her brother and his boyfriend were a few steps behind when Allura called, "Keith, might I ask you to join me in my chambers tonight?"

Veronica raised an eyebrow at that phrasing, but looked over her shoulder to see Keith call after her, "Of course. Give me a few minutes to shower and change."

"I'll see you then, Keefy."

Veronica watched Lance steer Keith away by the shoulders and heard him mutter, "For once, it'd be nice if my boyfriend slept in my own bed."

Keith shot back, "We had almost two years, I think you can handle one night."

"Damn," Rizavi breathed under her breath. Veroncia smirked and planted a soft kiss on her girlfriend's neck. At least they had the privacy of the castle for one night.

Several hours later, Veronica couldn't sleep. Rizavi was out cold while James and Ina were spooning on the opposite bed. In a final bid to try to fall asleep, she silently left the bedroom and went for a late night walk. Others seemed to have the same Idea. People she didn't know who'd cleaned up since leaving the hangar. Some spoke with the castle AI learning about what had happened. Eventually, she ran into Hunk.

He backed out of a room and wiped his cheeks. His wonderful smile didn't fade as he looked up and met her eyes. "V, what are you still doing up?"

"Oh, you know."

"Ah, day night cycle. I get it. Mind if I join you?" Hunk didn't wait for an answer before falling into step with her. "I only just managed to sneak away from my parents. As much as I want to stay with them, they need to rest."

"I get it," Veronica said. "They weren't injured or sick, were they?"

Hunk shook his head. "Not in any way that requires the med bay. Though there were enough of those."

Veronica was about to ask how many when voices caught her ear. Strange. That didn't sound like english. She followed the sound to a door with intricate trimming and sparkling inlay. The voices laughed before quieting.

Hunk misunderstood her curiosity and informed, "That's Allura's bedroom. The paladin quarters are here in the royal wing, though Lance insisted my parents could stay with us."

"It's just... what language is that?"

Hunk kept walking past Allura's bedroom. "Allura and Keith are practicing Altean. After their time on Ares, they're practically siblings. She started teaching him about a year ago, I think."

Veronica wasn't listening by that point. Even though Pidge had managed to make a translator for their long hours in the communication room, she'd still recognize the native galran language in her sleep. Which made her blood run cold knowing Hunk had lied to her.