It has been a VERY long summer and baseball/softball season, so I had next to NO time to write anything, much less edit for anyone else. And for that, I apologize. However, I have finally gotten this next chapter out, and it is a fairly long one. Enjoy.

I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.

Chapter Six

Keith nodded at what Gorma was saying as Lance and Allura walked into his room, Duvessa stopping in the doorway.

"Well, I'll go and check your latest results, Keith. Seems you have visitors who would like to see you," Gorma stated. He nodded to the newcomers, then left the room.

"Hi, Keith," Allura stated with a smile. "How are you feeling?"

He looked at her, sadly. "Confused and lost," he answered. He looked at Lance, then Duvessa. He stared at her for several moments.

Duvessa nodded at him. "Hello, Keith."

"I'm sorry, I don't remember you," he whispered, shaking his head slightly.

She looked to the floor. "So I've heard," she answered. She looked back to Allura and Lance. "I'll go. I'm sure I have something to do," she whispered, before she turned and left.

Lance and Allura watched her go, then looked back to Keith. "How many of your recordings did you get to look at before we came in?" Lance asked.

"A couple," he answered. "I…I know what I did, but I honestly don't remember her."

"Well, you should take the time to get to know her again," Allura advised. "She and Lance almost died to get the cure to the virus you had."

Keith looked to her and Lance. "What did you two do?"

"We both went against our better judgment and did something to save your life," Lance answered. "None of us were too thrilled with it, but…"

Keith frowned. "What did you do, Lance?"

Lance glanced at Allura, who nodded. Lance frowned and looked back to him. "We made a deal with the devil and almost didn't live to regret it."

Keith still looked at him blankly.

"Lotor and Maahox," Lance supplied.

"Lotor's back? And who the hell is Maahox?" Keith demanded, sitting up.

"Keith, relax," Allura ordered, gently pushing him back onto his pillows. "Pidge and Gorma both made sure the cure was safe to use on you."

"What did you have to give them for the cure?" Keith demanded, his blue eyes angry.

"Lotor's Haggarium infused armor," Lance answered. "He'd left it behind after an attack here on Arus. Pidge was studying it. He got all the information he could from it before we gave it back to them for your cure."

Keith looked away. "You shouldn't have done that. And what the hell is Haggarium? Does it have something to do with the old witch?"

"It might have something to do with Haggar, but we're not sure. And no, we shouldn't have made that deal," Lance agreed. "But, you were dying. The virus Maahox gave you was only slowed by the cold of cryostasis. It was still killing you, destroying memories, or at least blocking them. Vessa and I didn't want to make it, knew you would hate it, but…you were dying. We couldn't just stand by, unable to find the cure ourselves and watch you…"

Keith nodded. "So, you either made the deal or let me die." He sighed. "I guess you made the right choice."

"We thought we did, yes," Lance agreed. He nodded to the Voltcom on Keith's wrist. "How many of your letters did you get through?"

"Three. Saw the security footage of me turning over command to…" He paused. "What was her name?"

"Duvessa," Allura answered. "She's my great aunt about five generations back," she added. "She was put into cryostasis to protect the secrets of Voltron. She was the first Black Lion pilot, which was why you and her seemed to have gotten along well since she was brought out of stasis by the Lions to repair Black. You had just asked her to marry you before Maahox infected you. You've been in cryostasis ever since."

"Which, incidentally, you were infected by him at our wedding reception, so not remembering that at all is totally understandable," Lance added.

"How long have I been in cryostasis?" Keith asked.

"Just under seven months," Lance answered. "Vessa has been doing her best to fill your shoes. She made a promise to you that she would do your job until you were cleared for duty, which doesn't look like it will be anytime soon with as many memories as you're missing."

Keith glared. "And why the hell not?"

Lance chuckled. "Voltron has a few tricks up his sleeve that you have had erased from your brain. You've got some catching up to do."

Keith sighed. "Great. Just great."


Duvessa didn't make it very far before her tears overwhelmed her after she left Keith's MedTech room. She dropped onto a seat in the main waiting room and let her tears silently fall. I knew it would be hard, knew that he would have memories missing, but over a year's worth of memories? To not remember me at all…

After giving herself a few moments to grieve, she wiped her tears, stood and made her way to her office. She sat down and began working on some paperwork and other items she'd let slip in the last couple of days while waiting on word of Keith's return.


"Well, Commander, I'm going to release you, but I'm not clearing you for flight or combat duty," Gorma stated a few days later.

"Because of my memory loss?" Keith asked.

"Partly, yes," Gorma admitted. "The rest of it is still purely medical reasons. Not sure if there will be other side effects from the virus or exactly how much of your memory has been affected. Granted, we know you're missing about a year or more of your memory, but there could be issues with your short term and other bits of your long term memory as well. I'm just erring on the side of caution."

Keith nodded. "So, how long?"

Gorma shook his head and shrugged. "I don't know. If you notice anything, I'd like to be the first you tell."

Keith frowned, but nodded again. "All right, Doc. Thanks," he stated and took his discharge paperwork from Gorma. He left MedTech and headed for the Control Room.

He walked in and paused. Pidge was in the middle of a debriefing on the latest attacks from Doom. He felt a little bad about walking in during the middle of one, but at the same time, hoped it might spark his memories. He walked over and instinctively called up a holochair.

Pidge blinked at the sudden appearance of their commander. He slowly smiled at him, nodding. "Welcome, Keith. Didn't rightly expect you to be here for this," Pidge stated.

The others turned to look at Keith, surprise and joy in their eyes.

Keith shrugged slightly and smiled. "Well, Gorma hasn't cleared me for flight or combat, but pretty sure I can sit in on briefings," Keith answered.

"Well, it's good to see you up and about, man," Lance stated with a smile. "Feeling better?"

Keith shrugged. "Well, considering I don't remember how I felt before I was…" He paused, his eyes lighting on Duvessa, who quickly looked away from him and back to her datapad. "I was put into cryostasis, I think I feel better."

Daniel leaned forward, trying to see Keith better. "Do you remember us?" Daniel asked, a nervous look on his face.

Keith grinned and nodded. "Vaguely. Cadets. Daniel, Vince and Lady Larmina."

"He did record some things in order to preserve most of his memories," Pidge stated, shooting a bored look at the cadets.

Keith grinned slightly. "Yes, which have proven useful," he admitted, with a nod.

"Oh," Daniel stated, slightly dejected, earning a smack on the arm from Vince.

"I'm sorry I interrupted you, Pidge. Please, continue," Keith stated, settling back into the seat.

Pidge nodded and started his brief over, going over satellite images of the fight, along with video.

Keith stared as he saw the other Lions acting as the center for Voltron, his mouth hanging open slightly.

Lance noticed and leaned closer. "Like I said, Voltron has tricks up his sleeves that were erased from your brain. That is one of them."

Keith slowly nodded. "That's…a pretty big trick to have been erased from my head. That one seems like it should have been…memorable," Keith whispered.

Lance grinned. "You would think," Lance agreed. He studied his friend for a few moments. "You sure you're really up for this? I mean, you just got discharged. Don't you think you should be taking it easy? Go to your room and relax."

A pained look entered Keith's eyes and he shook his head. "I was hoping it might spark something," Keith confessed. "This feels right, like I belong here, but at the same time…"

Lance nodded, understanding. "Well, if it gets to be too much…"

Keith nodded and went back to listening to the others talking about the fight.

Once the brief was over, most of the team began to file out.

Keith stood and moved to follow. "Duvessa?" Keith asked.

She stopped, moving aside to allow the others to continue out of the room, and turned to face him. "Yes, Keith?"

Allura and Lance paused, looking back to watch. Uh, oh. I hope this doesn't get awkward, Lance whispered though the telepathic link he had with his wife.

Allura reached over and took his hand and nodded her agreement.

"Allura and Lance told me that you and Lance risked your lives to get the cure back here to save me. I wanted to say thank you and I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable with my lack of memory of you," he stated.

Duvessa nodded, her lips pressed firmly together. "You're welcome and…apology accepted. Doctor Gorma had known about the possibility of you having memory loss, though everyone hoped that it wouldn't happen. I'll try not to let it continue to bother me."

Keith nodded, then held his hand out to her. "Thank you for stepping up to lead them."

She looked at his hand for a moment before taking it, her stomach and heart fluttering at his touch. "Just doing my duty," she answered. She nervously tucked a stray bit of hair behind her ear with her left hand.

Keith blinked, releasing her one hand and capturing her other, staring at the ring on the third finger of her hand. "Allura had said…"

Tears sprang to Duvessa's eyes and her jaw trembled slightly. She swallowed hard. "Yes. You gave it to me the night Maahox infected you," she whispered.

Keith looked up into her blue eyes. "My grandmother's ring…"

Duvessa nodded. "Yes."

He stared at her for a few moments, then back to the ring she wore before releasing her hand. "Lance and Allura suggested that I try to get to know you again. This tells me…I trusted you with everything."

Duvessa swallowed hard again, but nodded. "And I trusted you. Still do, honestly, but…very unsure of what to do when you're in a room. Not wanting to make you uncomfortable, to upset you…" A tear silently trailed down her cheek.

He slowly reached up and wiped the tear from her face, the movement feeling somehow familiar, yet strange. "I am sorry," he whispered.

She shook her head. "No. It's not your fault. I feel it's mine, but you told me it wasn't mine, either. The blame lies with Maahox and Lotor."

He smiled slightly. "That does sound like something I would say," he confessed. He took a step back. "I'm sorry, if I'm keeping you…"

"No, it's…it's all right, Keith. I am at your disposal if you need me," she stated.

He nodded. "Thank you. I appreciate that."

Duvessa nodded back, waited a moment, then turned and left Control swiftly.

Lance looked to Allura and then to Keith as he walked over to them. "You all right, Keith?"

Keith frowned, but nodded. "Physically, yeah. Can we talk?"

Lance nodded. "Sure thing, buddy." He looked to Allura. "I'll see you later."

Allura smiled and nodded. She gently touched Keith's arm. "It's good to see you up and about, Keith. See you guys later," she stated and left.

Lance watched her go then turned back to Keith, sliding his hands into the pockets of his jacket. "Okay. What's up?"

Keith frowned. "You sure she's not a spy?"

Lance blinked, shocked by his friend's question, his jaw dropping open. He nodded. "Dude, yeah, I'm sure. We were all here in Control when she rose up out of the floor from the cryostasis pod."

Keith blinked, staring at him, puzzled. "What?"

Lance sighed and raised his Voltcom. "Pidge, need you back in Control, please."

"On my way."

Keith narrowed his eyes suspiciously at his friend. "Why do you need Pidge here?"

Lance sighed, lowering his arm, and turning his hazel eyes back towards his friend. "Because, we need access to the archived security feed. And not the one we can access daily. I want the heavily encrypted one that only a certain Baltan, who is NOT susceptible to being brainwashed, can access," Lance answered.

The doors slid open and Pidge strode in, a curious look on his face. "What's up?"

Lance faced him. "I need into the archived security feeds."

Pidge blinked. "You can already access whatever you need…"

"The encrypted ones."

Pidge frowned and looked to Keith, then back to Lance, realizing why almost immediately. "How far back do I need to go?"

Lance jerked his head towards Keith. "Fearless, here, thinks Duvessa is a spy…again," Lance answered.

Pidge shook his head and pulled up a holomonitor, his fingers flying over the screen. "Keith, you know that I wouldn't allow any spy to touch Black. Much less fly him. Duvessa isn't a spy."

"Humor me," Keith murmured.

Pidge nodded, quickly pulling up footage of the day Duvessa came out of cryostasis. "Here you go," he stated and played it.

"Now, mind you, Keith, no one except Pidge can get into this file," Lance stated as the footage played. "And he knows better than to even try to tamper with the footage."

Keith watched as Duvessa came up through the floor, soaking wet, and the surprise on everyone's faces. Watched as he, himself, checked on her, lifted her into his arms, and carried her out of the room. "Where did I take her?"

"Where else? MedTech," Pidge answered. "She was freezing cold and no one knew she was there. She needed the medical attention."

Keith nodded, frowning. "I had to have been suspicious…"

"You and I both were suspicious," Lance stated. "Me more than you, for once." He grinned. "She clocked my ass and you thought it was funny as hell."

Keith blinked, eyes wide in shock. "She punched you? She's a princess…"

Pidge grinned and pulled up some footage from the incident. "Just because she wears a crown, doesn't mean she doesn't have a temper that could get away from her," he stated.

Lance groaned and shook his head as Keith watched the footage. "There are times when I hate those cameras," Lance muttered.

Pidge chuckled and shut off the feed. "Anything else you require, Keith?" he asked. "I should be doing something down in my lab."

Keith shook his head. "No. Thank you, Pidge."

Pidge nodded, grinned at Lance and headed out.

Keith started pacing, his mind racing trying to piece things together, wishing he could remember.

"Well, you just saw the footage of her coming out of cryostasis. Hell, you heard Pidge tell you he wouldn't have let her touch your Lion if he thought she was a spy. And, Keith, if she was…she's had more than enough opportunity to betray us and she hasn't. Hell, she's still wearing your ring, for crying out loud!"

Keith stopped, his back to Lance. "I…don't remember any of it, Lance. Can you blame me for thinking this?"

Lance frowned, sighed, and shook his head. "No, I can't blame you, but you need to start trusting us. Look, Keith, Vessa has done nothing but worry about you, praying that you wouldn't have any memory loss, but that damned virus…" He shook his head and sighed again. "Look at it from where she sits, buddy. The man she loves, that she risked her life for to cure him, doesn't even remember her, and he's suspicious of her, too. This has to be tearing her up inside. She's so much like you, it's scary. She hides her feelings just like you, too."

Keith turned his head and looked at his friend. "I…I don't want to hurt her, Lance, but…I don't remember anything." He reached up and pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead, closing his eyes. "I feel like I'm missing something."

Lance walked over and put his hand on Keith's shoulder. "I know and you are missing something, your memories. I know you don't want to hurt anyone, ever, but it happens. She's trying to give you breathing room, hoping that your memories will return, but maybe the two of you need to be together more often. It might trigger a memory or two. Get your brain working to fix itself."

Keith dropped his hand from his forehead and turned to face his friend. "She seems uncomfortable around me."

"Can you rightly blame her? You can be pretty damn intimidating when you have that scowl of yours on your face," Lance stated.

Keith shook his head. "Guess not."

Lance grinned slightly. "Give her…and YOU...time. Maybe your memories will return. It's all we can do, Keith." He gently slapped Keith on the back. "Now, you just got out of MedTech. You should be in your room, resting."

Keith grinned and nodded. "All right." He frowned. "Um, where is my room?"

Lance chuckled and shook his head. "Come on. I'll show you," he stated and headed out of the Control Room with Keith.