We can't screw this up, Adam thinks as he follows Commander Iverson down the hall to the meeting location. They're helpless against the invaders, the Galra as Commander Holt calls them, and the fact that this Commander Sendak is suddenly opening talks is a miracle.
They assemble in the conference room: Commanders Holt and Iverson, two lieutenants, and himself, representing the few pilots not involved in battle preparation. Adam is extremely grateful to be seated to the side, away from their direct line of sight, when Sendak and his officers enter. He's seen a few pictures, but pictures can't capture the huge furry purple presence, the malevolent eyepiece, or the physics-defying apparatus where his arm ought to be.
This being is terrifying.
Sam Holt wins Adam's everlasting admiration by standing, offering a strange handshake by gripping forearms, and getting down to business without a trace of fear. Everyone sits around the table.
Sendak looks around and leans forward. "I will come straight to the point. Your planet does not have enough resources nor is it strategically located to be useful to us. The only reason you attracted our attention is because several of the Paladins of Voltron originate from this location. Our usual method of dealing with useless planets is to drain what quintessence we can from them and then destroy them. However…"
He pauses for effect. Adam lets his eyes dart around, noting how motionless everyone else is.
Commander Holt doesn't seem eager to take the bait, but Commander Iverson does after the silence has stretched out for nearly a minute. "However?"
Sendak's lip curls in satisfaction as he gives Holt a sneer before turning to Iverson. "One of the paladins, the Red Paladin, is Galra. He is a traitor to our empire, working with a rebel group to sabotage our infrastructure. He led the team responsible for the death of our prince, Lotor. Turn him over to us and we will leave your planet in peace."
The Garrison representatives look at one another. It's too easy and they all know it's too easy. But they are not in a position to try and negotiate.
Holt frowns. "There is no Red Paladin unless you mean Lance McClain, the Red Lion's pilot. And he's definitely human."
Sendak growls impatiently. "He is not the one I refer to. The Red Paladin flies the Black Lion."
"No, Captain Shirogane flies the Black Lion," Holt counters.
Adam's heart leaps a little at hearing Takashi's name. He still can't quite believe that his ex-boyfriend has survived everything that Commander Holt described: being abducted, forced to fight for entertainment, experimented on, taking leadership of a powerful task force. He wonders how bad Takashi's condition has gotten, how much he's hiding it in order to keep flying.
"I do not mean him, either! I mean the one who wears the red armor!"
Adam swallows. The Galra is definitely in snarling mode now.
Holt opens his mouth to speak again and Iverson clamps a hand on his wrist. "We are not unopposed to this proposal, if what you are saying is true. I suggest we bring this Red Paladin in and give him a chance to answer your charges. Alien or not, we need to determine his guilt or innocence."
Sendak snorts at that, but sits back and waves a hand. "Bring him to us and we will present our evidence."
Iverson motions at the two lieutenants and gives them instructions.
Coran watches as Keith paces, reading from a tablet in his hand. It's just the two of them at the moment, in the biggest of the repurposed quarantine domes that currently house the team. Lance and Hunk are with their families. Pidge and her mother are giving a crash course on Earth to Allura, Romelle, and Krolia. Shiro is scouting the damage in the immediate area with Orion, partly for information and partly to keep the wolf out of Keith's hair while he studies the intel gathered so far on the two Galra cruisers orbiting the planet.
Two cruisers that were firing on sparsely-populated areas and retreated the minute the lions appeared, sending messages of parley.
Except there had been no follow-up message to open negotiations.
Two Garrison officers appear in the doorway. They look Keith and Coran over and Coran does his best to look harmless. "Good day to you, gentlemen! How may I assist you?"
One of them looks Keith over and points. "Is he the Red Paladin?"
Keith looks up with one eyebrow raised and the officers glance at one another uneasily.
"Yes, I doubt I'd be wearing this armor otherwise."
"Your presence has been requested by Commanders Iverson and Holt."
Keith's expression halts in mid-eyeroll and he lays the tablet aside. "Then I guess I'll see what they want. Coran, if you'll tell the others where I went?"
"Of course, Number Four."
Keith is out the door before Coran remembers that he's taller than Lance now and their numbers need to be swapped.
Keith falls into step with the officers. He's fairly certain he recognizes one of them, a random student from his year who was moved to comms pretty quickly after the initial flight training. He wonders briefly where that asshole James Griffin landed.
The officers shift, one stepping in front to lead him through a door and the other falling behind to follow him. Without warning, a flare of familiar magenta takes down the officer in front.
Keith reaches for his weapons, but before he can do more than get his hand on the hilt of his blade, something large and metallic barrels into him, pinning him to the wall. His head smacks against the tile, dazing him. He struggles against the strange thick prongs holding him in place, then the recognition hits and his eyes sweep the room.
Sendak is on the other side of a conference table, his left shoulder raised and the energy globe pulsating. Two Galra flank him, rifles raised. Keith can see the sprawled figures of Iverson, Sam Holt, and a third man. Iverson is close enough that Keith can see he's still breathing.
"So, you are the paladin who also became one of the elusive Blades of Marmora. Breaking you is going to be such a pleasure. I would so like to be there when we send what's left of you back to the Champion."
The mention of Shiro snaps Keith out of his fog and he stops struggling, letting his body go limp. He slides out of the grip of the giant arm enough to get his blade free and jams it into a joint between the claws.
Sendak grunts and releases him as sparks fly, causing the connecting orb to flare. Keith tries to tumble to his feet but Iverson's body is in the way and the claws slam into him again. Before he can bring up his sword again, the pulsating globe at Sendak's shoulder brightens and crackling energy courses through the oversized arm and through him.
Keith screams before everything goes black.
Adam swims back to consciousness. He remembers the Galra opening fire on them. His ribs ache, but he's not bleeding as far as he can tell. He hears movement in the room and stays limp, trying to escape notice. The bridge of his glasses digs into his nose and he turns his head just enough to ease the pressure and look around the room.
"Pick him up, Tovek. Kull, map our way out of here."
Boots move over to a crumpled form in black and white armor with red accents. The Red Paladin, the one they wanted. As a Galra scoops him up, Adam gets a glimpse of longish dark hair and pale skin. Adam can't tell for sure, but he looks human, not Galra.
But if taking him means that the Galra will stop their attacks and leave Earth alone, then Adam will let them do just that.
Shiro heads back to the temporary campsite of old quarantine domes. Orion romps beside him, running into him playfully. He reaches down with his human hand to scratch behind the wolf's ears and gets a happy bark in response. They're about ten meters away when Orion freezes, looking toward what's left of the original Garrison, and growls.
"Orion? Buddy?" Shiro halts. The wolf's shoulders are tense, his attention fixated in the distance.
Suddenly the wolf circles into Shiro, almost between his legs. There's an instant of blinding bright light as his surroundings morph from open sky to a small conference room.
A room with three Galra, one of whom has an unconscious Keith thrown over his shoulder.
Sendak is the second thing that registers and Shiro doesn't hesitate. He launches himself at the giant Galra, his arm glowing Altean blue, and delivers a deep blow to the other's solar plexus, doubling him over.
Orion has already clamped his jaws around the knee of the third Galra, his teeth finding the gaps in the armor. The enemy collapses, probably with the equivalent of a severed ACL, and the wolf goes for its throat. There's a loud snap of breaking vertebrae. Orion then teleports across the room into the one holding Keith, knocking them both to the floor.
Sendak has straightened and tries to sweep Shiro aside with the arm. His movement is limited in the small conference room, crowded with furniture and littered with bodies. Shiro spots Sam's inert form and squashes down the panic as he tumbles away from Sendak's swipe. He comes up closer to where Keith's captor is struggling against Orion and spies Keith's blade on the floor. He grabs it in his left hand just as Sendak's claws clutch him and start to pull him back.
Shiro resists but lets Sendak draw him close, then feints with his cybernetic arm for Sendak's face. Sendak jerks back and Shiro drives the knife directly into the luminous orb that controls his arm.
The resulting energy backlash sends everyone toward the walls. Shiro gets to his feet quickly and moves across to Sendak, who lies insensible with a blackened ruin of twisted metal where his shoulder used to be.
Shiro doesn't hesitate at all: he stabs Keith's blade through Sendak's remaining eye and into his brain. He waits until the last death spasms are over, then pulls the knife free and wipes it clean on the long scruff of fur at Sendak's neck.
He disarms the other two Galra and turns to Orion, who is standing guard over Keith. "Can you get Krolia?"
Orion wags his tail briefly and vanishes. Shiro checks on Sam and Iverson, finding their pulses steady. He can hear running footsteps from the hallway, getting louder, and crouches over Keith, pulling him up and into his arms. Keith's face is pale and his pulse is a little irregular, but he's breathing steadily.
As faces of frightened Garrison employees look in the doorway, one of the other Garrison officers that had been slumped in the corner away from the door lifts his head. Shiro's eyes go wide with recognition.
"Adam?"
It's almost too much to process, seeing another of those armored figures appear out of nowhere with some kind of huge dog. Snow-white hair suggests age, but the way the person moves is that of a born fighter. As the dog—more like a wolf—kills one of the Galra, the new arrival attacks and kills Sendak.
There goes any hope of negotiation.
Adam thinks he should check on the commanders or try to direct the growing crowd at the door. He starts to sit up, but freezes when he hears his name. The tone is incredulous, the voice one he never expected to hear again.
He sits up, looking across in wonder. "Takashi?"
It is and it isn't him. The only thing Adam recognizes at first glance is his eyes. The black hair is now white. There's a long scar running across his nose and cheeks. He's visibly broader in the shoulders and chest.
And he's angry over something.
"What the hell happened here?"
Adam swallows at the tone in Takashi's voice. No, not angry. Takashi is just short of rage and it's something Adam has never witnessed before.
"The Galra...Sendak...offered to withdraw if we extradited the Red Paladin for his crimes against their nation. Sendak said he was part of a rebel group, that he led a team that killed their prince."
Takashi's voice grinds out in low tones. "And you were willing to do that, to just give a member of our team to the enemy based on that. Were you even going to try and verify whether they were lying?"
"Takashi, he's one man! One man against eight billion people! How can you possibly think that bargain isn't worth it?"
His former lover tightens his hold, cradling the Red Paladin to his chest, and glares at him with a white-hot fury. "Not when the one man is Keith."
"K-Keith?" Adam stammers out in shock. Tag-along Keith? That delinquent kid Takashi insisted on mentoring? He looks at the figure in Shiro's arms and, now that he's paying attention, he can see the ghost of the boy in the man before him. But even allowing for fighting in the front lines of a war, he looks to be in his early twenties, not late teens. How can this be Keith?
The conversation is interrupted with a flash of light and the sudden appearance of the dog—wolf—and a woman, judging from the shape. She has the same purple coloring as the Galra and rushes to Takashi's side. "What happened? Is he hurt?" She smooths heavy black hair away from Keith's face and Adam sees a startling resemblance between them. The shape of their faces, the pointed chins and long noses.
The constant tide of emotions behind their eyes.
Takashi shifts his grip, lifting the other man in his arms as if he weighs nothing, and Adam is stunned again. While at the Garrison, Takashi had worked hard to keep his body fit, to fight his illness, but this casual strength is on a whole new level.
"I think he'll be okay, but I'd like Coran to check him over and be sure. Adam, did you see what happened? Did he hit his head? Did one of them stun him with those energy rifles?"
Adam shakes his head. "I'm not sure. They were planning to leave with him when I regained consciousness."
Takashi looks over at the growing crowd at the door. "Get a med team in here for Sam and Iverson! Set a watch on the Galra ships—we'll have trouble as soon as they realize their commander is dead. We're going back to our ops to take care of Keith and prepare a response if the Galra attack. Have Sam contact us as soon as he's able." He looks down at the wolf. "Orion, can you take us back?"
The wolf threads himself between Takashi and the woman and they all disappear in another burst of light.
The hurt settles in Adam's chest like lead. Takashi didn't even look back at him.
Keith wakes with the oddest sense of déjà vu ever. He's been here before, the shield of the healing pod dividing him from Shiro.
But he doesn't remember being on this side of the barrier.
Shiro is leaning over him, a relieved smile on his face. The barrier disappears and Shiro's reaching down, helping him to sit up. Keith puts his hand behind Shiro's neck for leverage and smiles back.
"What happened?"
"We were going to ask you," Shiro replies, glancing across the pod, and Keith sees Krolia, ready to help but letting Shiro pull him upright for now. "Orion realized you were in danger and got us."
The wolf leaps up, forelegs propped on the edge of the pod, and Keith reaches out to ruffle the fur at his neck. "Good boy. Thank you."
"Sendak and two other Galra were about to leave, taking you with them. What were you doing there in the first place?"
Keith's eyebrows quirk up at that. "A couple of Garrison lieutenants came, asking me to attend some kind of meeting. When I got there, Commander Holt and Iverson were down and the Galra started firing on my escort. Sendak went after me. The last thing I remember is some kind of energy current going through that arm of his, into me."
Shiro's expression turns dark. "So they set you up. According to Adam, they were told that the Red Paladin was a Galra traitor and Sendak was willing to leave Earth alone in exchange for you."
Keith feels a jolt at the name Adam, Shiro's ex-boyfriend, but stamps it down. This isn't the time or place for his jealousy, even if he's never forgiven Adam for making Shiro miserable, forcing him to choose between him and Kerberos. Instead, he points out the obvious. "That…probably should have been explored."
And clearly that was the wrong thing to say, given how both Shiro and Krolia start yelling at him. Very loudly. With strings of very colorful profanity.
Allura takes the lead with the Galra, opening a channel and informing them that (1) their commander is dead at the hands of the former Champion, (2) Planet Earth is protected, and (3) their choices between victory and death will soon shrink to just death if they do not leave the galaxy immediately.
But someone decides Sendak is worth avenging. Thankfully, four lions are more than enough to handle two battlecruisers, so Shiro and Krolia can keep trying to get it through Keith's head that sacrificing himself is never an acceptable option. Shiro's not quite sure they've succeeded, given Keith's long track record of putting Shiro's well-being ahead of all else.
It's Krolia who finally convinces Keith to get out of his armor, at least the hard-shell white pieces, and settle with Orion for a rest. Shiro's changed into his casual wear, the vest over black and grays, sitting next to the bunk with his human hand stroking Orion's fur and the other holding a tablet to catch up on the latest intel. Krolia has gone off for some reason and Shiro is cherishing this moment of quiet.
There's a tap at the door.
Sam is there and Shiro smiles. He lays the tablet aside, about to get to his feet but Sam waves him back down. "At ease, Shiro. You're not exactly in the chain of command anymore."
"Are you all right?"
"We're fine. Bruised from the stun bolts, but we'll be fine. I...ah...someone wanted to talk to you." Sam moves to the side and Shiro's gut clenches when he sees who it is.
"Adam."
"Takashi."
Sam slips away and Adam stands there, looking the most uncomfortable that Shiro's ever seen. His uniform shows a captain's rank. His hair's a bit shorter than he used to wear it and the glasses are a different style.
Shiro wonders just how different Adam finds him.
He waits for Adam to begin. It's probably petty of him, but it seems to be the best way to channel his simmering anger. Adam tried to talk Shiro out of his dreams of being an astronaut, tried to make Shiro stay home and live his last years of health just being ordinary. He forced Shiro to choose between those dreams and the man he loved. He was prepared to give Keith over to the Galra without a fight.
And in a spark of clarity that makes his heart sizzle in his chest, Shiro realizes which of those actions matters more.
He leaves off petting Orion and reaches over to cover Keith's hand with his.
Adam's shoulders fall, just a little.
"I'm glad you're alive, Takashi. It was hard. We all thought you'd died, that something had happened to you and you lost control of the craft—"
Shiro lets out a derisive snort. "Of course you did. A nice tidy cover story, since no one at the Garrison wanted me out there in the first place. None of you trusted me, except the Holts and Keith."
He feels a twitch under his hand. Keith is awake and not letting on that he's eavesdropping.
Adam's glance flickers to Keith's face and back. "He wouldn't quit. Kept coming back again and again, demanding answers, demanding that a rescue mission be sent. They finally discharged him after he assaulted Iverson."
So that was it. Shiro squeezes Keith's hand, letting him know that Shiro's aware he's listening in. A memory rises up, of a promise he made once to a boy lost and looking for direction, that same promise returned in a hellscape of countless bodies wearing his face, and Shiro goes with it. It's probably going to hurt Adam all over again, but Shiro's been through too much. He needs to tell him, get it out, and close that chapter of his life once and for all.
"Keith is the one person who has never given up on me. He has been there for me throughout this madness, supported me every step of the way. Even when he had every reason to believe I'd betrayed him, he didn't stop. So there was no way in hell I would have ever let him be taken by the Galra."
"They said he was Galra."
"In part. His mother has Galra ancestry. His father was human."
Adam's eyes widen behind his lenses at the casual way Shiro imparts that information, like it's nothing of import.
"Does he know?"
"Know what?" Shiro is going to make Adam say it.
"Does he know about your condition?"
Shiro waves his Altean arm dismissively. "What condition?"
Adam's mouth drops open as he absorbs the implication. "You mean…"
"The silver lining of this entire fiasco is that the Galra had a cure for my disease." That's a monumental oversimplification, but Shiro's not in the mood to explain everything chapter and verse. He's not even sure exactly when or how it happened; whether the amputation of his right arm had been enough or if the process of creating the body he currently resides in eliminated the disease. Either way, it is gone and Shiro no longer has to fight being defined by it.
Keith's fingers creep around Shiro's ring finger and pinky and tighten, out of Adam's sight. Shiro responds, gripping back gently.
Adam's eyes are shining a little as he absorbs this information, probably running through all the future possibilities now closed to him. "I… I'm glad of that. And I'm sorry. Iverson did intend to question Keith, get his side before letting the Galra take him. They attacked as soon as the escort had been sent."
Shiro nods to let Adam know he heard, but offers no opinion. The silence stretches. Shiro is fine with it, watching Keith possibly drift back to sleep. Adam keeps shifting his weight, clearly wanting to say more but unable to decide on the words.
The stalemate is broken when Orion lifts his head, tail thumping, and Krolia enters the room. She's ready to share whatever information is on the screen projected from her vambrace, but pauses at the sight of Keith apparently sleeping, fingers intertwined with Shiro's.
In quiet tones, she fills them in. "Pidge and Matt were able to confirm that the Galra sent no messages to a larger fleet before they were taken down. We've forged a distress call implying that they ran into a cosmic anomaly en route to here and were destroyed before they could get away. That might be enough to convince the rest of the Galra to stay away, even if someone else puts together that you all came from this planet. Our intel suggests that Sendak came here on his own, trying to take revenge against Voltron for the fall of the Empire."
Shiro nods. "That's good. That means it should be safe enough to leave once the new castle is finished."
"Leave? But...it's over." Adam looks between them, bewildered.
"Hardly." Krolia's voice drips with ice. "Sendak was a major force in the Galra leadership, but there are far too many others that can take his place. And even if we succeeded in eliminating all of them, there are a number of other races that would be all too eager to try and take over instead. Voltron will be needed one way or another for quite some time."
Shiro decides to end it. "Please let Sam know that we'll be available to debrief in a few varga—" He shakes his head. "Hours. A few hours. Plan out the best use of resources in rebuilding the castle and helping clean up after the Galra." He pauses and looks up, meeting his former partner's gaze. "Goodbye, Adam."
Krolia immediately picks up the implication and steers Adam out of the room. Orion jumps off the bunk and follows them.
Keith opens his eyes and turns his hand over to clasp Shiro's. "That can't have been easy. I'm sorry."
Shiro's expression is rueful, but his lips curve into a small smile. "No, but not as hard as I expected. I have changed far too much to even consider going back to him. Besides," he shifts to sit on the bunk next to Keith, "I have someone better now."
Keith frowns, not picking up the hint, and Shiro tugs on his hand so Keith will sit up. He puts his Altean hand to Keith's face, drawing him close until their foreheads are resting together. Keith's eyes are vivid with dawning comprehension.
"I know you've called me brother in the past, Keith—"
"I had to. You had Adam. I couldn't get in your way if you wanted him back."
"And that is no longer an issue. Keith, I meant what I said. You are the one person who has always pushed me to follow my dreams, who saved me over and over again."
"You saved me first. You did the same thing for me when I was just a punk kid with fast reflexes."
Shiro chuckles at Keith's words, leaning away enough to see his expression clearly. "Can we agree that we've saved each other enough times that it balances out?"
Keith nods at that.
"I know you said it once, but say it again. Where I can hear it myself and not just remember it."
Keith swallows hard, but meets his eyes. "I love you, Shiro."
He runs his thumb over Keith's cheek, the unmarked one. "And I love you, Keith."