Once he had returned with Keith, Shiro gathered Pidge, Hunk, Allura and Coran to the bridge for an emergency briefing. Coran was twirling his mustache and Shiro ha began to suspect it was a nervous tick. Hunk wore his emotions and worries openly while Pidge was harder to read which made her the polar opposite of her brother.
And Allura…
Anger and… a sense of betrayal didn't even begin to cover it.
"How's Keith?" Hunk asked.
"Scared. Confused." Shiro said and sat heavily in the captain's chair: "So, nothing new there."
Allura's mouth was a hard line.
"Coran told me he attacked you."
Shiro looked at Coran who almost tore his mustache off.
"We just had a bit of a tussle to sort things out. Nothing I couldn't handle." Shiro said.
"And if he attacks someone else? Will they be able to handle it?" Allura said.
Pidge adjusted her glasses and smirked.
"I'd love to see him try. If he starts anything with me, the hard part will be to decide which one of the twenty-eight strategies I'd use to destroy him."
Everyone turned to look at Pidge.
"You… uh… you haven't actually planned something like that? Right?" Hunk said.
"I always have a plan." Pidge said and nodded at Allura: "So, if he starts anything, I'll deal with him."
For a moment Shiro's vanity got the better of him and he forgot about the matter at hand.
"How many strategies do you have for me?" Shiro asked.
"Just one… and I'm not sure if it would work." Pidge said.
"I see." Shiro said trying not to sound too satisfied.
"This is reassuring. You remind me of one of Altea's more notorious queens. She would start conspiracies against herself to always know where her enemies where." Coran said.
"So, now we have two people who could beat Keith if he went rogue. Which he won't. I know Keith." Shiro said.
Hunk fiddled his fingers nervously.
"So… how are we going to handle the whole… turning Galra thing?"
Allura glared at Shiro.
"Yes. How are we?"
"That's why I called you here. We won't. For the time being I want you to treat him as you did before. Right now, all questions would be insensitive. We'll talk about it, when he's ready to talk about it." Shiro said.
"Shouldn't Lance be here for this talk? Knowing him, he's already asking weird questions about Keith's new Galra junk." Pidge said.
Coran twirled his mustache harder and Hunk forced down a snort.
"Give Lance some… a little credit. I think he gets it." Shiro said and looked at Hunk: "Right?"
"I guess." Hunk said but didn't sound as sure as Shiro would have liked.
"Then I think we are done here. Try to get some rest." Shiro said.
Like he'd thought, Allura stayed behind while the others left. The void of space felt scorching compared to the air on the bridge.
"You must think I'm cruel or paranoid." Allura said: "But… there are still things we need to consider."
"I know. Thank you for discussing them privately."
"We are leaders. That means worrying about things, so others don't have to." Allura said and looked away: "Keith is your… son? Little brother?"
"Something like that. I guess you could say I'm his godfather."
"I don't know what that means." Allura said.
"What Coran is to you." Shiro said.
Allura nodded slowly.
"Our allies won't like this. Having a Galra in our ranks."
"I'd imagine so." Shiro agreed: "That was a brilliant tactical move on Zarkon's part. A good way to tear us apart. We have to make sure that doesn't happen and maybe… we could turn this into an advantage."
"Advantage?"
"The Galra aren't a hive mind. Not all of them approve of Zarkon. Seeing one of their own fighting him might make them bold." Shiro said.
Allura considered it but didn't look convinced it. Shiro smiled sadly.
"Allura… I can't even imagine what you're going through. Your home is gone… your family is gone… but Keith had nothing to do with it. The Red Lion trusts him."
"The Black Lion trusted Zarkon too."
Yes. It had… it did.
"I trust Keith… and I beg you to trust me." Shiro said.
Allura looked so tired.
"I trust you." Allura said and turned her sights on his mechanical arm: "I'm not the only one who suffered. They imprisoned you. Humiliated you. Mutilated you. Enslaved you. Why are you so willing to trust them?"
Shiro looked at his metal arm. An eternal reminder of his imprisonment.
"Do you know how I escaped? A Galra set me free."
Allura's eyes widened but she stayed quiet. They stood in silence that was anything but comfortable.
"I suppose… I have a lot to learn about the Galra. Shiro… I'll do my best to sort myself out but…"
"I know. No need to explain." Shiro said and smiled: "My offer stands. If you ever need to talk, I am here."
"Thank you for understanding."
Shiro nodded.
"And Allura. I don't think you're cruel or paranoid."
Allura smiled as she left him alone. Shiro sighed and rubbed his face with his hand made of flesh and blood. Then he looked at the stars. They helped him forget that the weight of the universe rested on his shoulders. He tried meditation to clear his mind and calmness washed over him. These were one of those moments you didn't truly appreciate until they were…
The Castle's computer informed him of a new message.
When Keith entered the infirmary, he was afraid to find Lance in an oxygen tent. He'd sounded so awful in the radio but when Keith found him, he was just a bit pale and beaten up. The sight of him made Lance's blue eyes turn clearer.
"The liar returns."
"… sorry." Keith said: "Lance… how are you feeling?"
"Like crap and I look even worse." Lance said and eyed him: "How can you turn blue and still look better than me?"
Keith snorted.
"You… I thought you were… you sounded so bad in the radio."
"I added it for dramatic effect." Lance said.
"Now who's the liar?" Keith said.
"At least I didn't run away like a little bitch."
"Lance…" Keith said annoyed.
"Like a bitch."
"Lance."
"A little biiiiiiiitch."
Keith started laughing. He couldn't help it. He'd been afraid of what Lance would say when he saw him but… he was his usual self. His usual annoying self that Keith had more than once considered strangling.
"Good to have you back." Lance said.
Keith took Lance's hand without thinking.
"I'm glad to be back."
Lance pulled his hand closer and studied it with a smile on his face.
"Will I turn blue too if I hold on long enough?"
Keith winced.
"Do you… think I'll ever turn back to normal. I can't go back to Earth looking like this. I… can't go anywhere looking like this."
Lance gripped his hand tighter.
"We'll figure something out. Besides, we have Voltron. We can go anywhere we want."
Keith smiled and then looked at Lance expectantly.
"What was it that you needed to say to me face to face?"
"… I said what?"
"On the radio. You wanted to tell me something."
Lance twitched.
"Can't… can't we wait for another life or death situation? I'm way more honest during those."
Keith gripped his hand with all his strength.
"What if we don't get out alive next time?"
"… Keith."
"… yes?"
"… you're breaking my hand."
Keith let go quickly.
"I'm sorry!"
"Don't worry. I still have a spare."
There was a knock on the door and Hunk and Pidge peeked in.
"Lance!" Hunk cried and ran to hug him.
Hunk almost pulled Lance out of the bed when he wrapped his arms around him. Keith stepped awkwardly out of the way but not fast enough. When Hunk noticed him, he pulled Keith into the hug too and much to his surprise Keith found out that under the padding of fat Hunk had a rock-solid musculature. He might have had even more raw strength then Shiro.
"Don't ever worry us like that again!" Hunk cried.
"… I won't." Keith whispered.
"Good." Pidge said and patted him on the shoulder: "Good pilots are hard to come by… and you promised to help me find my family. Guys like you keep their promises, right?"
"That's still a work in progress." Lance said.
They sat down to chat and Hunk didn't let him flee. Lance and Hunk did most of the talking while he and Pidge sat in the sidelines. It wasn't… unpleasant. Was this what it felt like to… belong?
"You actually have twenty-eight strategies to take down Keith?" Lance said.
"For now. I might have to readjust them." Pidge said.
"How many do you have for me?" Lance said.
"Fifty-four. Hunk has twelve." Pidge said.
"Wait. I'm easier to take down than Hunk?" Keith said.
Hunk laughed.
"Keep working and you might get on my level."
"Did you just call me the bitch of Voltron?" Lance said.
"You should be flattered that you're such a high-priority target. All my strategies are based on you being out of the fight. If you weren't… workable strategies would drop into the single digits." Pidge said.
"How do we take you down if you turn evil?" Keith asked.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Turn?" Pidge said and smirked: "I wouldn't go against you guys… unless there was something in it for me. But if that did happen, just throw Shiro or Voltron at me."
The intercom turned on and Coran's voice echoed in the infirmary.
"All pilots on deck."
Keith and Hunk helped Lance into his wheelchair and headed to the bridge where Shiro, Allura and Coran were waiting. Allura gave him a curt nod before turning away and Keith tried to keep his temper in check. Allura had gone through hell because of the Galra but… he hadn't chosen to be born this way.
"What's going on? Are we under attack?" Keith said.
"We have been contacted by one of our allies." Shiro said: "They want to arrange a meeting between us and a group calling itself the Blade of Marmora."
"Marmora?" Pidge said.
"A legendary Galra king who was prophesied to return when his people needed him." Coran said.
"Basically, a Galra king Arthur." Shiro said.
"Arthur?" Coran asked.
"A hero king on Earth." Shiro said and leaned back in his chair: "Marmora? Could they be Galra rebels?"
Allura grimaced.
"It would have been helpful if they had made themselves known sooner."
"Allura is right. Hate to sound like a racist but… some Galra mystery group approaches us the moment we get our butts kicked and are weak? This sounds like a trap." Pidge said.
"I agree. This seems… risky. But there was another part to the message. Directed at Keith." Shiro said.
Lance along with everyone else turned to look at him.
"Me?" Keith said.
"Yes. We were hoping you could make more out of it." Shiro said: "Coran if you would."
With the push of a button Coran filled the screen on the bridge with a symbol. A symbol he knew perfectly even if he did not understand it. An exact replica of it had been carved into the knife his father had left him. He had spent most of his life staring at it after dad had died and would recognize it anywhere.
"You know what it is." Shiro said.
"… yes. Could you… wait for a moment?"
The eyes on his back felt… suspicious? What else was he hiding from them? Could they trust him? Keith tried to push the thoughts away. They were only in his head. What was one more secret to all the ones he had kept? When he got to his room, he caught a glimpse of his reflection. There were no more secrets.
He took the knife from its hiding place and returned on deck. The sight of the knife made Allura tense up while Coran looked at it with curiosity. He handed the knife to Coran who pulled the blade out of the scabbard and studied it.
"You… you know what it is?" Keith said.
"Yes. A ceremonial blade passed through one of the noble Galra families. One that I thought had gone extinct. The symbol translates roughly to; Fortune favors the bold. Their family motto."
Family?
Before he knew it, he was yelling.
"We have to go! We have to! They know who I am! They know! They know… about my mother…"
"Keith." Shiro said.
"We have to!"
"Keith." Shiro said with a bit more force in his voice: "I will consider it."
"But…"
"Keith, I will consider it. This isn't something we can jump into." Shiro said and out a reassuring hand on his shoulder: "Get some rest and we will talk later."
"Yeah. Rest sounds good." Lance agreed.
"Keith will take you back to the infirmary." Shiro said and looked at the knife: "We will keep the knife for a moment. You will get it back soon."
"… okay." Keith said and managed to suppress another angry outburst.
He wheeled Lance out and Allura followed them.
"Keith." Allura said.
"What?" Keith said coolly.
He couldn't take anymore passive-aggressive hostility. Not now! Not after everything he had wanted to know was being dangled in front of his nose. He wouldn't…
"I grew up without a mother too. I am sorry you had to go through that." Allura said.
The shock made Keith forget his anger. For a moment.
"… uh… I… yeah. I'm sorry too. Thank you, princess."
Allura nodded before returning to the bridge. Lance let out a relieved sigh.
When they got back to the infirmary, Lance sat up with some difficulty and lied back on his bed. Keith realized he had been squeezing the wheelchair's handles so hard he'd left dents in them.
"You okay?" Lance asked.
"No. No, I am not okay! I look… I look like a freak! And now everything I've wanted to know about myself is being kept from me! So, no, Lance! I am not okay!"
"Look. I know what you're going through, but we can't…"
"Do you?" Keith said and laughed bitterly: "Do you really? I never knew my mother! I never knew who I am! I don't even know if she's alive! Do you know what that's like?!"
Lance's smile remained but his eyes narrowed.
"Do you think if Adam has moved on?" Lance asked.
"What?" Keith said.
"I'm sure Shiro thinks about that everyday but here he is. Doing a duty, he didn't ask for. What about Pidge? Are her father and brother still alive? How often does she think about that? And me? I have a seventy-eight-year-old grandmother with a bad heart. I brought her groceries twice a week because she couldn't carry the shopping bags on her own. Hunk is in the same boat as me. Then there are my… nephew and niece."
"Wait. You're an uncle?"
"My oldest brother is past thirty. The point is… we're all terrified for our families and… we don't know if we'll see them again."
Shame made Keith's face burn. He sat down heavily on the bunk next to Lance.
"I'm sorry."
"I know you are. Shiro will sort it out. He always does." Lance said and crossed his hands behind his head: "Galra rebels, huh? You must be relieved. Daddy wasn't a traitor."
"Dad was… a hero." Keith said.
Keith lied back on the bed and stared at his hand. His blue hand with fingertips that ended in talons.
"Must feel weird." Lance said.
"It does." Keith said and made a fist: "I keep praying that… I'll be back to normal when I wake up."
Lance snorted.
"What's normal anymore?"
"Normal on Earth."
"That might change soon. We've made first contact." Lance said and then rubbed his chin: "Or maybe the only thing that changes is that black and white will finally make peace to gang up on the blue."
"Grim." Keith said.
"Just being realistic here." Lance said and smiled: "It's not like you're the only half-breed out there. There's Razkha."
"And Lotor. Isn't it weird? That Zarkon has only one son." Keith said.
"I know right? That guy totally has a room full of unwilling concubines stashed somewhere in his Fortress of Evil."
Keith turned to look at him slowly.
"What?"
"What? Zarkon takes over planets. You think he cares that no means no?"
Keith shuddered.
"Probably not." Keith admitted and then looked at Lance: "What did you want to say to me? Face to face?"
Lance looked away but not fast enough to hide that he was blushing.
"Keith…"
"Don't turn into a coward on me now." Keith said.
Lance didn't look at him when he spoke.
"When we first met at the Garrison, I hated you."
"… huh?"
"I hated you. I wanted to be a pilot so bad to show my family that sending me into the Garrison had been worth it but… even with all that studying… no matter how hard I practiced… I could only make it to support. And when I came to you for advice…"
"Wait. Lance… we never talked while we were at the Garrison." Keith said.
"Oh, yes we did. You just don't remember." Lance said.
"I… that's possible. What… what did I say?"
"That I should quit slacking off and work harder."
Keith winced.
"That… sounds like me." Keith admitted.
"I hated you for that for a long time. I put all that effort in and… I couldn't get even half the results as some smug dick who barely practiced. All you did was sulk and you still aced every test. I thought you were a total dick."
"Yeah. Pidge said…something about that. Look… I didn't mean…"
"Oh, yes you did but… I was wrong… or I was right but you're not just a dick."
Lance sighed and stared at the ceiling.
"When I thought Zarkon would kill you… and you almost let him…" Lance said and bit his lip: "Keith?"
"Yeah?"
"This might be the painkillers talking but… I don't hate you anymore. I think you're cool and… I…" Lance took a deep breath like a man about to jump into his death: "Keith… I think I like you."
Keith stood up.
"… what?"
"Like you… I think I like-like you." Lance said and then rubbed his face: "Oh, God. Just kill me."
Keith was too scared to move. If he did, maybe he would… wake up.
"Lance."
"… yes?" Lance said from behind his hands.
"I… look like this. You… wouldn't be able to go anywhere with me." Keith said.
Lance glanced at him between his fingers.
"I say Vol."
"I… still don't know what that means. Why don't you just say Voltron?"
"Because we are Voltron. We can go anywhere. Be anything we want… or did I misread the signals?"
Keith got ready to lie. To say that all the signals had been in Lance's head. He tried and couldn't.
"… no." Keith admitted.
"Good." Lance said and took his hand: "And about your looks… if only you could see what I see…"
"Is it my butt?"
"You know me so well." Lance said and held his hand tighter: "So… uh… do you like-like me?"
"I…" Keith started before snorting: "Yeah. I like-like you too but… You think I'm cool? What happened to you not dating anyone you respect?"
"I guess… you've made me a better man." Lance said with a grin.
