**I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender (duh)
As the paladins landed and began to make their way towards the base, Shiro was quick to take on the supporting role of co-leader. The rejection of the Black Lion didn't seem to faze him for long as he hovered next to Coran, monitoring the action on the ground while he established priorities for the team.
"The most important thing is for you to get eyes on that comet," he reminded them, firm and authoritative. "Second is figuring out who we're dealing with."
Minutes passed and the paladins proceeded to board and inspect the docked enemy aircraft. There was a tense moment of silence before Keith reported their findings. "Shiro, we've just boarded the ship. There's no crew in sight. Moving forward with the search."
The comms went quiet once more as they moved deeper into the ship. Suddenly, the roof of the base cracked open, revealing a rather familiar piece of technology.
Shiro's eyes widened upon seeing it. "Coran, give me a closer look at that." The Castle's scanners zeroed in on the image before bringing up the blueprint the piece of machinery belonged to. "Is that…"
"The teludav!" Coran shrilled in realization. "What in the name of King Groggery the Infirm is going on?"
"No way…" Scarlett frowned, her antenna glowing brighter in her anger. "After all of our hard work putting that thing together, they just swooped in and stole it."
Without delay, Shiro moved to ping their team on the ground. "Guys, there's a piece of the teludav inside the Galra base," he said when Pidge's face popped up on screen.
Lance smushed himself into frame, his frown deep as he asked, "The one we used to wormhole Zarkon's ship?"
"The very same," Scarlett nodded.
"Those quiznaking thieves!" he hissed just as Pidge nudged him away from her.
"But they would never be able to operate it without an Altean – " Allura's breath hitched with a gasp. "Zarkon's witch! She had Altean markings."
"Haggar…" Mari winced as she spoke the name and Shiro grimaced, both recalling their incredibly unpleasant experiences with the monstrous woman. They swallowed back their rising fear as their attention returned to the paladins.
"There's more bad news," Pidge added, her brow furrowed with worry. "We found the source of the comet's signal. Lotor's used the ore to make a ship."
"What?" Coran exclaimed, mortified.
"A comet ship and the teludav here in the same place…Is anyone else kind of freaking out?" Hunk squeaked nervously.
"Yep, mark me down for one freak-out," Lance agreed, his voice tight.
"Lotor must be nearby. We need to find him and take him out for good," Keith decided, but Shiro quickly shut down that train of thought.
"Team, you cannot let Lotor get that ship. You need to get back to your lions," he urged, a sharp edge creeping into his voice. "You need Voltron!"
Keith's eyes flared with a stubborn disagreement. "Why take out one ship when we can stop all of this by taking out Lotor himself?" he argued. "We can't let him keep outsmarting us."
"That's exactly why we can't risk letting Lotor have that ship," Shiro argued right back, his decision unwavering. "This is too important."
"Keith, I want to stop Lotor just as badly as you, but Shiro has a point," Allura briskly intervened, her tone kind but adamant.
The Black Paladin paused for a moment, indecisive. "Okay, you guys go back to the lions. I'm gonna search the ship for Lotor."
Shiro's scowl deepened in disapproval. "Keith, you need to stick together."
"Yeeaaah, I'm with Shiro on this one," Lance chimed in.
"As am I," Allura agreed.
"Me too," Pidge pitched in.
"Yeah man," Hunk added.
There was a tense beat of silence. When Keith still didn't reply, Shiro's eyes narrowed. "The last time you went off on your own in a Galra base, things didn't end well, remember?" he said, his voice lowering. "Stay with your team."
There was a sharp inhale over the speakers followed by a frustrated tsk. "Fine!" Keith practically snapped back at him. "Let's move."
The comms shut off, leaving the bridge in a heavy atmosphere. Mari turned to Shiro, her own anger flaring. "You didn't have to bring that up," she said, struggling to keep her voice calm. She didn't want to think about it, the time she'd gotten stolen away and tortured after following Keith and that Druid. She wouldn't let the nightmares resurface to plague her, threatening to make her blood run cold and paralyze her with fear.
Shiro sighed, his irritation melting away to confliction as he glanced at her. "I know he knows this is the right thing to do. But sometimes he's just too stubborn for his own good," he said, folding his arms over his chest. "I'm just trying to help him."
"By reminding him of that? He already feels bad enough about it as is."
"And that's exactly why I said it," Shiro insisted. "What if he or one of the others got captured? He can't let something like that happen ever again. He needs to consider the bigger picture, not run blindly into things."
Mari pressed her lips into a thin line, unable to say anything in retort. She knew he was right, but still…wasn't he being a bit too harsh? She looked to Scarlett for backup, but the Utearen simply shook her head and shrugged.
"I mean…he's not wrong," Scarlett admitted slowly. "If Voltron loses a paladin now, then we're gonna have a big problem, aren't we? And we don't need any more of those."
"I think we already have one," Coran piped up, drawing their attention back to the main screen. The Galra cruiser had taken off and it was collecting the teludav with a tractor beam.
"We have to stop that cargo ship," Shiro instructed, and Coran's fingers began to fly across his control panel.
"On it."
The Castle drew nearer to the planet, ready to take on the gradually departing enemy. The sensors locked onto a ship that had launched from the aircraft and was streaming straight for them.
"That must be the ship made from the comet," Coran concluded, his face scrunching up at the sight of it.
"Then let's be careful," Shiro advised. "Raise particle barrier. Fire Castle defenses."
Coran did as he was told. The glimmering shield materialized around the entirety of the Castle before a brilliant blue beams shot towards the incoming ship. The pilots dodged the attacks, flexible and nimble and not even slowing down in the slightest as it approached.
"A quick little bugger, isn't it," Coran mused, almost impressed.
"Should we send out a fighter drone?" Scarlett wondered, unable to hide the agitation in her voice.
"I've never seen something that size move that fast," Shiro said in disbelief. "I don't think a drone's going to be able to touch that thing let alone damage it."
The enemy ship circled around the Castle, locating an opening before firing. A web of purple lasers shot forth, only to be easily repelled by the particle barrier. The enemy tired again, this time charging up a cannon and slamming the force field with a scorching beam. The Castle shuddered from the impact, the barrier fritzing dangerously.
"That blast cut right through the particle barrier!" Coran gasped, grasping the edges of the control panel to keep himself steady.
"Team, where are you?" Shiro called out to them, but there was no response. The Castle shook again as another blast pounded them, slicing more away from the shield.
"We can't take another hit like that!" Coran grunted.
The ship prepared to fire again, its cannon glowing with deadly energy. But before it could obliterate the last of the Castle's barrier, a familiar laser blast rained down on it, forcing it to stop and back away. Dramatically entering at the last minute, as ever, Voltron appeared before them with sword ablaze. It chased after the attacking ship, steering it away from the Castle. It slashed at the enemy, but each swing proved to be futile as the pilots speedily dodged, ducked, and spun out of reach.
"Argh! It's too quick!" Keith growled, his angry voice taking over the comms.
"Guys, the cargo ship is escaping with the teludav inside of it," Shiro pressed, trying to reel their focus back to the more pressing matter at hand.
"I thought taking down the ship made from the comet was the most important thing," Keith countered.
"We still can't let Lotor get away with the teludav."
"Shiro's right. We need to destroy it," Allura concurred, once again trying to play mediator between the two leaders.
"But the comet is right here!" Keith was more than a little exasperated at this point. He was yelling as his irritation began to take over. "We need to take it down!
Voltron soared after the enemy fighter, sending up blue and purple sparks each time it clashed and collided with the unyielding ship. But it was too slippery, and within seconds it had zoomed out of their reach once more.
"Keith, the cargo ship is getting away!" Shiro exclaimed, his own voice rising in vexation. Mari had never seen him like this before. Maybe it was just the frustration that came with being forced to sit on the sidelines. Or maybe it was just the result of him not being in a position of active leadership for the first time in a while. But it was almost scary seeing him get so mad at someone else. It felt like she was watching their mother whenever she blew her stack, except it was Keith getting yelled at instead of her.
Voltron slowed to a stop and turned to face the escaping cruiser. It hesitated, frozen in indecisiveness, when the enemy fighter suddenly blasted it from behind, pelting it with fire power. Voltron quickly raised its shield, protecting itself as much as it could. The enemy's cannon glowed and sparked, preparing to deliver a damaging blow.
"Guys, the teludav's getting away," Hunk fretted.
"Keith, what should we do?" Lance begged for an answer.
"You're going to have to lower your shield, shoot the cargo ship, and deal with the consequences," Shiro provided the instructions instead, clear and to the point.
"We can beat this ship first, and then get the cargo ship," Keith persisted, but his voice wavered, starting to cave under the pressure.
"There's NOT enough time. You need to make a decision!" Shiro ordered, his patience on the verge of snapping altogether.
"Grrr!" Keith grit his teeth, furious but reluctantly giving in. "Hunk, get your bayard ready. On my cue, we're gonna lower the shield and shoot the cargo ship. Ready?"
"Ready!" the other four paladins affirmed.
"Go!"
Voltron's shield fell as its shoulder cannon manifested. It turned to face the cruiser and the enemy fighter fired at it. At the very last second, Voltron veered out of the way and the blast pierced right through the side of the teludav, blowing it to bits. Coran and Scarlett cheered and Mari let out a sigh of relief. The tension left Shiro's shoulders and his expression relaxed as he leaned against the main control panel. Their celebration was short-lived though as the enemy fighter shot at Voltron again, this time hitting it square in the chest and sending it sprawling out of the way. The ship zipped towards the cruiser, gliding slowly alongside it before it streaked off into space.
A long and heavy minute of silence passed before Lance spoke. "So, Lotor was attacking the Galra base and trying to steal the teludav?" He paused, trying to absorb this confusing information. "None of this makes any sense."
"We can talk about this later," Pidge hurriedly shushed him. "They're getting away!"
"We need to go after them," Keith agreed. His rage was draining, but it didn't stop him from wanting to keep going.
"No. Get back to the Castle," Shiro ordered, the anger having left his voice too. "Something strange is going on here, and we need to figure it out."
Mari was beating the nuts and bolts out of the Gladiator droid, practicing with her new staff, when Keith entered the training deck. She halted her sparring, pausing the level before she turned to him. Sweat beaded her forehead and she wiped it away carelessly with the back of her hand, the Quintessence Rings around her neck jingling at the movement.
"Hey," she greeted, panting lightly. "You here to blow off some steam too?"
It had been hours since Voltron's fight with Lotor's crew, and it had left everyone restless. To make matters worse, there was now a noticeable strain between the leaders of Voltron. Tired and confused, everyone had wisely decided to call it a day with the promise that they would discuss what they'd learned in more depth tomorrow.
Keith nodded from the side of the room. "Just need to clear my head," he muttered, shrugging off his jacket. He pulled the Marmoran dagger from the sheath on his belt and it glowed, elongating and morphing into a full sword. Mari eyed it cautiously before looking at him.
"You're not using your bayard?"
"Thought I could use more practice with this," he replied curtly. He stepped onto the training floor and stared at her, waiting for her to restart the droid. When she didn't, he huffed. "What?"
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"
Mari hesitated, mulling over how she should broach the raw topic. "I know Takashi was being a little…rough with you today. But he's not mad at you."
Keith's face twisted into a frown and he slouched, as if he'd been waiting for her to bring it up. "I know. He said he was proud of me. I'm just — "
"Mad at him?"
"No."
"Mad at me? For giving one of Lotor's cronies the scaultrite way back when we were in the weblum?"
"No."
"So…you're mad at yourself?"
"Yes. I mean, no! I'm just…" His voice trailed off, internally determining how many of his walls would be coming down for this dreaded conversation. "All of this leader stuff. I'm not cut out for it."
"That's not true," Mari tried her best to gently reassure him. "You made the best choices and you looked out for your team."
"Yeah, only after Shiro told me what to do," he countered miserably.
"See? You're a good listener too."
Keith sighed. His dark eyes swam with fear and skepticism. "I can't be a leader," he said, quiet and sure. "Not like him."
Doubtful and crestfallen, he reminded Mari of a sad puppy left out in the shivering rain. Her heart clenched painfully for him and for a long moment she didn't know what to say. She slowly took several steps towards him until she was standing right in front of him and could look him in the eye.
"No one will ever be able to be 'like' Shiro," she said finally, her tone soft and full of understanding. "Take it from someone who grew up desperately trying to be 'like' him. You're better off just being you."
There was another beat of silence, prompting her to continue. "I know my words probably don't mean much. But if it's any consolation, I'm proud of you too." She inhaled deeply, the heat rising to her cheeks as she carefully added, "I like the you that is Keith. Hotheaded and still learning, but more than worthy to pilot the Black Lion."
Keith blinked at her, surprised. Embarrassed as she felt admitting something like that, Mari's gaze never wavered from his as she waited for his response. But he was quiet, his eyes drifting away from hers as he opted to glare at the floor. His walls had instantly shot back up and blocked her out.
When he still said nothing, she sighed and drew back from him. She hadn't been expecting a 'thank you,' especially not if he didn't agree with what she'd said. There was too much self-loathing and uncertainty buried somewhere deep inside him where she could never reach. But still…the silence was unnerving and it hurt more than she had anticipated now that this confirmed there was nothing she could do to comfort him.
"A-Anyways, I'm getting pretty tired, so I think I'm gonna head out and hit the hay," she mumbled, feeling like a fool as she turned away. She retracted her staff and clipped it to her belt before resetting the Gladiator for him. "I'll leave you to it."
Collecting her discarded jacket, she started for the exit. When she was halfway through the door, Keith suddenly called out to her. "Mari!"
She stopped, pausing to look back at him. "Yeah?"
He hesitated. "I…I like you the way you are too," he said, awkward but honest. A tiny smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he added, "No matter how stubborn you can get."
An odd warmth blossomed inside her chest. She couldn't stop herself from smiling too as her shoulders relaxed, relief washing over her.
"See you tomorrow, Keith," she said, granting him a little wave. "Goodnight."
He nodded. "'Night."
And with that, the doors slid shut and Mari was left to retire to her room, her heart racing the entire walk back.
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