"No way! I am not going on an undercover sting." Lance crossed his arms tightly across his chest.

"You must. Those are the terms we agreed on," Lotor chided.

"Can't someone else go on this mission? Don't these Nahookians or whatever have a military of their own?"

Shiro stepped in. "They do not. The Nahook are a peaceful people. It took a long time to agree we needed to remove Kyrax to begin with. They will not touch him. So, we are going on this mission," Shiro stated. He traded a sour look with Lotor. "Believe me, I don't like it either."

Lance, sufficiently outnumbered, let his shoulders fall. "Fine. What's the plan?"

Pidge interrupted smoothly. "I already have a list of possible hiding places where Kyrax could be hiding. Cross referencing Shadi and Nahook information, Kyrax appears to be very private and controls a fair number of underground bunkers which are well hidden and armoured against orbital scans." She lifted her glasses. "I am assuming he is using the rich mineral content of the planet's natural caverns as a way to ricochet signals."

Hunk cringed. "Ugh. Reminds me of Earth history."

"Can't we just follow the cave formations?" Allura asked. She was not pleased with the terms of the agreement, but they had decided not to outright assassinate Kyrax and that was a positive change. Baby steps, she thought to herself.

"Not really," Hunk said. "There are literally trillions."

"Then how are we supposed to infiltrate his compound?" Lance realised the answer before the words were even out of his mouth. He frowned. "Again, why me?"

"You are young, impetuous, and bold." Lotor answered with more exasperation than he intended and levelled his voice with the next sentence. "Kyrax is looking for eager youth with potential. You fit that description better than anyone else here."

Shiro nodded, deciding to tone down his temper to match Lotor's calm. "Agreed. Lance, please this isn't a punishment. You are simply the best choice for this mission. We have your back."

"Yeah," Hunk supported. "We will be in with our lions as soon as you locate Kyrax."

Still leery but grateful for the encouragement, even the strange words from Lotor, Lance furrowed his brow. "Fine," he moaned.

"Good." Shiro's clipped voice switched to warmer tones. "Now let's go get some rest. We move tonight."

The memory of tiredness was more than enough incentive to shuffle the paladins out one by one. Allura was last to leave, sensing Lotor hanging back. His gold eyes flipped from Shiro to her for an instant before she understood and took her leave. As the door whooshed closed behind her, a dozen possibilities crossed her mind. Please just don't make things worse, she thought.

Shiro was the first one to break the silence after the door closed. "What is it, Lotor?"

"I need to know something," Lotor began.

"Yes?" Shiro looked the prince dead in the eye. His annoyance bottled up from the past weeks was palpable across the meters between the two men. The buzz of that pesky headache rose to the surface again. It made him angry for no reason.

"You gave me the black bayard before. What has changed since then?" Lotor kept the pitch of his words neutral. He scanned the man carefully, reading and filing away minute details even the way that the man's breath hitched slightly.

"I gave you that weapon because Pidge needed to see her father again," Shiro said flatly. Lotor was impossible to read. "It wasn't a sign of trust. You should know a calculated risk."

"What was the risk?" Lotor was genuinely lost here. The man had held every card in the former situation. Even with the black bayard, Lotor would never have been able to betray them. His father would have murdered him or worse, Voltron would have. He had been effectively defenceless, possibly the most vulnerable he had been in ages.

Heat rose within him and Lotor let it manifest in his voice. "I am not surprised you did not trust me. But tell me, did you think I could garner my father's mercy from offering that simple weapon? Did you think I would murder her father in cold blood after everything was said and done? Did you think I could turn and kill all my enemies in one place at that perfect moment in history with your weapon? Did you fear that end?"

Shiro's jaw tightened.

Lotor felt the emotion bubble over… from yesterday and today and every other damned day in the paladin's presence. Maybe he needed this.

The prince continued harshly. "Was it really so simple Did you really see me as such a threat or were you counting on my sacrifice in case negotiations went awry? You used me as a pawn. I am resigned to that fact. Tell me the truth; that thing which you demand from me on every occasion. You still held command of your weapon. If I betrayed Voltron, you only needed to command the bayard back to your hand. I would have fallen at my father's hands, murdered in front of you. What was the risk?"

Shiro's face hardened cruelly. Lotor doubted anyone close to the man had before witnessed the callous eyes of a soldier eclipse his steel irises.

A strange, coarse voice came from the man's mouth. "I was willing to do whatever it took to complete my mission, even if that meant Pidge losing her father forever. If that's what it took, then I was willing. You couldn't die. You were our best option and I risked you." He finished the sentence with ice, "You were the only chance to defeat Zarkon."

Lotor laughed. The metal in Shiro's voice surprised even him. He laughed again, feeling dangerously unhinged. "You are cold. Colder than the paladins will ever know." He noticed a distinct parallel and jumped on the opportunity. His words sliced through the atmosphere. "Now you understand why I cannot let Allura go."

Don't say it. Don't deny it. You have worked too long for it, sacrificed too much. She is more than a risk.

The prince smirked, realising he had caught the paladin regretting his decision to lose his temper. Shiro had said too much. An almost physical shift glinted within the man's silver gaze as he realised the mistake. Tears threatened to trail down his hard face. His fists balled into tight curls. Anger at failing to remain in control of the conversation and guilt at the truth of the admission shuffled repetitively over the man's face for a handful of tense seconds.

Lotor readied himself for a physical confrontation to explode. The prince knew the cause of his own instability but could only guess at Shiro's. It was as intriguing as watching a man contemplate his own suicide.

The blow Lotor expected never came. Shiro was too disciplined, a perfect soldier. Without betraying the princess, Lotor abdicated the conversation. "I will do whatever it takes, Shiro. She is my best option. Voltron must survive."

You love her.

Yes, more than anything.

The black paladin's voice shook with guilt or rage, Lotor could no longer tell. "Get out of my sight."

"Get out of my way," Lotor countered with renewed venom. He bored through the black paladin until even he withered, casting his silver eyes to the ground.

When Shiro spoke, hatred laced every syllable. Whether it was directed at himself or Lotor not even Shiro knew clearly. "Voltron will survive, Emperor. Under you or something else. Leave."

Lotor supressed his smirk till the door closed on his heels. There is something off about that man. He is more perilous than he knows. "I sense it," he replied to himself. "Yet it captivates me."

Stay focused. "I am."