They ended up talking for hours more, each explaining themselves and connecting the dots.

Right before the conversation drifted naturally to what they should be doing next, Shrio and Frok spoke at the same time.

"I think now is a good time for bed."

Everyone stopped and looked between them. Pidge snorted and Lance laughed.

"Bed time it is," Krolia replied, "Out of the mouth of two, so it shall be."

She didn't join in most of the time, instead letting her son speak for the Blades as was his right in this situation. Instead, she had contented herself with observing everyone else. This Frok person was strange, but so was every race one was not familiar with. He seemed trust worthy enough. The tension between her son and the one called 'Lance' however was concerning. They argued, not like herself and Kolivan. The only difference was Kroila could see this person was much more willing to do what needed to be done. There was a shiftiness to his look when he spoke, and she didn't quite like it.

"We'll address Romelle and her situation tomorrow as well," Allura said as they all stood and made their way to their rooms.

"Yeah," Keith said, "lets do that."

Krolia gave him a look and he shook his head very slightly.

When they had seen Lotor in the hanger, Romelle had changed her appearance to match with Keith and Krolia. Lotor had been a little preoccupied to really pay her much attention. However the stress of seeing him and then the panic of what was going on had been a little much for her, no matter how stubborn she was.

As everyone dispersed into their room Keith waited and then headed towards Lances. When he opened the door he found that Lance and Frok were sitting on the floor talking.

Good, a second opinion.

"So help me, Keith," Lance snapped, "you are going to have to learn to knock some time in your life."

"Later," Keith said, "I need to know everything you know on Lotor."

The pair exchanged a look and then turned back to him, "After you tell us what you know."

Fair enough. It would help if he had more people on his side when they broke the news to Allura. He had no idea that they were a thing until Lance had said something, which was why he had kept quiet about Romelle.

Keith explained what he and Krolia had been doing. He explained what Romelle had told them and why he'd not said anything before.

After he was done Lance had his head in his hands and Frok looked so done with life.

"Sometimes…"Lance said through his fingers, "I really wish I was as ignorant as I behave…"

"We need to stop Lotor from going further," Keith said, "but I need more information to really convince them that he's not our ally."

"Except that he is."

"What?"

Lance sighed, "at this moment in time, he is our ally. How we progress from here might change that."

"What do you mean by 'might'?" Keith scowled, "You were eager to throw Shiro under the buss today, but here you are making excuses from someone who farms quintessence from living people!"

"We are not making excuses," Frok corrected civilly, "we are simply seeing the situation from a different angle."

"Then you better start talking," Keith folded his arms and waited.

Fork and Lance shared another look. Frok shook his head and Lance then shrugged. Keith couldn't figure out what was being said.

"I'm giving you level 2 clearance," Lance said and Frok let out a disapproving grumble, "Which means, you can't use this in your argument against Lotor in front of everyone else."

"Then what's the point?!"

"the point is that now WE need you to be on our side. WE need you to take a step back and help us…manipulate a situation where we win most of the battles. Look-"

Lance closed his eyes and thought for a moment, "The council has been aware of the Galra for a long time. They really haven't been able to do anything because, frankly, we had other planets and races to deal with because that threat was more immediate. Now that the Galra have almost literally shoved their way into being the agency's #1 problem, there are…affects and effects, that need to be taken into consideration."

"…such asssss…"

"Do we really have the means to make Lotor our enemy again? With the Witch as powerful as she is, do we have the resources and skill to take on two powerful opponents?" Frok stipulated, "If we use him to take out the Witch, then we can deal with him without needing to watch our backs at the same time."

"But what about Romelle and her people?!" Keith pressed, "They deserve justice and need to be-

"That comes in the form of what you and the Blades do," Lance grinned, "Or did you forget that all of you are class A sneeks?"

"We are not 'sneeks'," Keith snapped, "we're stealthy."

"Same thing."

"Here is what we suggest," Frok replied slowly, "We contact our Superior and let him know of the situation. If the...Blades, are they called, are willing, then we can give them and you temporary status in the agency."

"With that, you and the Blades can go, rescue Romelles people, get them to a safe planet and away form Haggar and Lotor and after we use lotor for our mutual needs, then we can air his dirty laundry."

"Why would we need to be part of the agency?" Keith wrinkled his nose, "we can just do that ourselves."

"Because the agency knows where you can relocate the Alteans," Lance said, "They will be able to give you aid and support. AND it would solve all my problems too."

"No," Frok said, "it wont."

"yes," Lance argued, "it will. You'll see. I can finagle my way out of anything."

Frok rolled his eyes. Keith thought for a moment.

"Soo.."

"So, while Frok messages Iverson, I'm going to initiate you, sound good?"

"But you haven't received permission-"

"Ask for forgiveness, Keith, not permission," Lance cracked his fingers.

"Is this really ok?" Frok asked and Lance nodded.

"It's a temp status, Frok, nothing more," Lance grinned and to Keith explained, "you won't get codes outside of what you use yourselves as an independent group. Think of yourselves as contractors. You get a higher clearance because that's what's needed to actually be in contact with Iverson and know where that planet is. You will not be told about any other missions going on, only information pertaining to what your mission entails."

"Sounds normal enough, I guess," Keith shrugged, "So what do I have to do to-"

"repeat after me," Lance clapped his hands, "I, Keith Mullet."

Keith scowled.

"Fine, fine, be boring" Lance shrugged and pulled out his issued com. He brought up the screen and started to record, "state you name."

"Keith Kogane."

"Race."

"Human… and Galra."

"Do you promise to honor and never betray your kin?"

Keith blinked, not sure what Lance meant by that. Seeing Ketih hesitate, Lance explained.

"Your kin is human and Galra. You follow one path that hopefully honors both. Will you promise to do what is best for both of your people?"

"Of course," Keith snapped, now pretty offended by the question.

"Do you promise to honor and never betray your own conscious?"

"I promise."

"the agency wishes to form a temporary alliance with you and the Blades, do you accept the give and take necessary for a working relationship?"

What kind of question was that?

"Yes…"

"Do you speak for the Blades?"

Keith suddenly went pale. He did NOT speak for the Blades. Krolia wasn't even here. How had it gotten this far?

"No," he said and Lance clicked off the com device.

"then we'd better get someone who does speak for them," Lance said, "and here I thought we could just get this over with because you were Kolivans favorite or something."

"Noooo," Keith shook his head and even waved a hand to dispel the misunderstanding, "just the opposite. Kolivan hates my guts."

Lance tilted his head a little, "keith…dear, red leader, keith…you really need to learn how to read people better. You've gotten better, I'll give you that, but Kolivan practically dotes on you the only way Kolivan knows how."

"What makes you say that?"

Lance sighed, "Kolivan wouldn't let you leave a room alone after you tried that suicide dive. We just made you realize it was stupid, but Kolivan was the one that felt he needed to watch you. You really freaked him out there!"

"the Blades don't worry about stuff like that," Keith denied, "the missions come first. That's how its always been and how its always going to be. You preform the mission and you do not compromise it even at the cost of one of our own."

"You seem to have changed something then, because that stiff personality of his was all over the place after that."

Keith, again, shook his head. Lance was good when it came to people, but he didn't know the Blades like he did.

"What about your mom?" Lance asked, "does she hold a higher standing with the blades?"

"I don't think she and kolivan get along very we-" Keth froze. Lance looked about as innocent as a snake.

"Pidge owes me SO much money," Lance grinned.

"How did you…I didn't say.."

"No, but you were overly self conscious when you introduced her and every time she spoke up," Lance said.

"You share many similar genetic traits," Frok added, "as well as genetic habits."

"Your faces are pretty much identical when your thinking really hard," Lance said, "anyway, can she speak of everyone, or do we have to drag all of them here for this?"

Keith was still struggling with the fact that he'd been found out.

"The council will not like this," Frok replied, his voice slightly lower, meant for Lance alone.

"the council owes me, I'm calling in my favor," Lance shrugged.

"On this?"

"Sure," Lance said, "most fights are won because of pivot points. I'm looking at this and seeing a pivot point."

"You're making the call?"

"Either we do it now, or we wait for everything to pan out on its own. Remember when we did that last time?"

Frok closed his eyes and groaned, "that was a completely different situation."

"True, but I'm not trusting my overly trusting team to NOT make my mistakes."

"You both know that I can hear this whole conversation, right?" Keith thought he'd remind them since Lance seemed to think it was ok to bad mouth the team.

"Yeah, we know," Lance said, "so, are you going to go get your mom or are you going to go call Kolivan? Do one or the other. Chop-chop!"

"Know what," Keith stood and shook his head, "Never mind. We'll do things our own way. Not like you have much faith in your team anyway, right? You have your partner back, so maybe I'll just take Red back and you can do your own thing."

Keith left and stormed to his room. The one thing Keith hated the most about space ships was that you couldn't slam the doors.

()

"I believe he did not understand."

"You think?" Lance rubbed his eyes, he was so tired.

"Will you tell them?"

"…if I can avoid it, I will," Lance answered, "but it looks like I'll have to at least tell Keith so he'll not do exactly what I said not to do."

"You're talking in circles."

"Mmm," Lance yawned, "Go find a room or you can camp out on my floor, I don't care."

Lance stood up from the floor and moved to his bed, "We'll mess with this in the morning, I can't think…"

"Clearly," Frok stood and gave his partner a pat on the head, "Do you need me to stay?"

Lance turned a skeptical glare at his partner. Frok nodded.

"I'll be down the hall then."

Lance waved and Frok left.

()

Hunk and Pidge found themselves in the kitchen long after everyone went to bed.

"Couldn't sleep?"

"Mmm."

They snacked for a while in silence before Hunk spoke up.

"Do you think Lance will quit?"

Pidge shrugged, "so what if he does?"

The food fell from between his fingers as he stared at her.

"Because we're a team, Pidge, Shiro doesn't look like he can or even wants to fly any more, so Keith will have to take over in Black, and if Lance quits, who's going to pilot the red lion?!"

Pidge swallowed, "you're worrying too much. Things will work themselves out if we just leave it alone. I mean, Keith did come back, right?"

"Well, yeah but…"

"Hunk?"

"Yeah?"

"What's really bugging you?"

Pidge grinned at him and Hunk scowled. It had been like a slap in the face for Lance to turn and rely on Frok when they had been standing right there. It irritated him to know that there was someone else who knew him better and could help him more. Hunks whole pride was built on the fact that he could take care of others. That even though he was large and looked down on, he'd always been able to help in some capacity.

"when Lance talked about having a partner, it was just talk, now…it feels like the team is falling apart."

"If he's that attached to his partner, do you really think he'd let his team down?" Pidge asked, "Lance is a moron, but he's loyal…like a dog."

"Glad to see you're fine with whatever."

Pidge shrugged, "I have enough to worry about without thinking that a team member is going to not help me when I need them. If I add that to the plate, then I'll never get to sleep….ever…"

"So you're up now because…"

"because today was a lot to take in. I need to think it all through. I don't think on my feet like the others, we're more alike because we take our time to really consider things."

"true," Hunk nodded, feeling much better. Pidge was right, of course, and he had known that as well, deep down, be he still worried.

Pidge and Hunk were making their way back to bed when they heard a loud noise come from Lances room.

"Sounds like he fell out of bed," Pidge grinned, "should we open the door and mock him?"

Hunk grinned and nodded.

They opened the door with as much flair as one could with an automatic door and leaped in, expecting Lance to be wide eyed and dazed on the floor with a silly look on his face.

Well, his eyes were wide…

And he was on the floor…

But neither of them dared move any further as they stared at the gun that was pointed at them. His breathing was rough but his hand was steady. Tears streamed down his face as he glared at them.

"Hey, Lance, you ok?" Pidge asked, her voice squeaking a little.

Lance took his time answering, "Pidge? Hunk?"

"That's us," Hunk said slowly.

"…on…on an altean…ship…"

"Yup," Pidge said her hands still in the air, "its where we've been for a loooong time."

Lance slowly lowered the gun and rubbed his face with the other hand. He hadn't stopped crying. He just sat there, unwilling to let go of the gun in his hand and trying to hide his face with the other.

Hunk didn't know what to do. They had tried approaching him earlier, but he'd obviously rejected that. There really wasn't anything to say without asking questions first, and even Hunk wouldn't stoop so low as to ask questions while he was like this.

So Hunk did the only logical move left to him.

He walked over and sat next to his friend. He didn't do anything, he just sat there. Pidge sat on the other side, bringing her legs up and resting her chin on her knees.

And there they sat until Lance fell back asleep.

()

Keith took his time getting ready the next morning. He was going over in his head everything that needed to be done today. Everything that needed to be said.

When he opened the door Lance was standing right outside of it.

"What?"

"We need to talk."

Keith tried to push past, "No, we don't."

"Hurry up," Lance said, not listening, "Krolia and Romelle are already waiting in the red lion."

"What?!"

"Come on, come on," Lance said and started to push him down the hall, "you didn't let me finish last night. Let's go."

"Oh, but your point was clear," Keith said brushing him off, "we're not part of your 'clearance level' so we-"

"Oh don't get me started," Lance sneered, "You're every bit as bad. You ran off to hide with the Blades because you haven't come out of your emo phase yet."

"It was the best decision to make with Shiro back!"

"But he wasn't! And the only one of us that could've figured it out BEFORE everything happened was YOU!"

Keith wasn't ready to back down, and he hated that what Lance said made sense.

"the best decision would've been to take Red back, like I tried to offer you," Lance rolled his eyes, "I was really trying to get you to so I could leave and chase down Frok, but then you beat me to it."

"…are you serious?"

"yes," Lance made a face, "as gross as it sounds, we both had the same idea, but, like always, you did it before I could."

Keith grit his teeth, "fine…let's go."

()

Shiro looked around the table.

"We are missing a few people…right?"

"Lance said he needed to talk to Keith this morning," Hunk replied, his mouth full. He glanced over at Frok, who didn't seem too bothered.

"And the others?"

"Here," Keith said, "Romelle and Krolia are doing…I don't know what, but I was told to leave."

"Where's Lance?"

"He went back to bed, said he didn't get a lot of sleep last night."

"Oh," Hunk and pidge said, "right."

Keith sat down and started to fill his plate up. Frok just sighed and continued eating. They couldn't tell if it was an annoyed sigh, or a relieved sigh.

"What?"

Frok looked up from his food, "yes?"

Pidge had been no less upset than Hunk had been the day before, but she could hide it better. What she had told Hunk was true, to a point, but he had surprised her when he'd voiced the same thoughts that had gone through her own head.

"What's the 'hhhhaaaahh' for?! You got something to say, then say it!"

Allura tried to step in but stopped when Pidge shot her a look. Frok thought for a moment about why Pidge would be upset.

"You were with Agent Blas last night, yes?" Frok asked.

"Yeah, but how do you know?"

"He told me."

"Why would he tell you? Its not any of your business!"

"Because I asked."

Pidge slammed her fork down, "And why would he tell you?!"

"Pidge," Shiro tried to calm her down but Pidge had had enough.

"you just waltzed in here! Demanded that you see OUR teammate, and then DON'T even stay PUT when we told you to!"

"Yes," Frok said, admitting it, "but I simply walked…I would not know how to dance my way anywhere and it seems like a rather confusing way to travel."

Pidge rounded on Hunk, "Is he making fun of me?!"

"I asked," Frok said slowly, "because I knew he would not sleep well. I had been expecting him to come see me last night, like he often does when he has a nightmare. When he did not, I wondered if perhaps he had slept well and my prediction was wrong. He told me that you two had stayed with him and that he was fine."

"Nightmare?" Allura asked, "How bad?"

"Bad enough to point a gun at us," Hunk said.

Shiro stared at his plate. He hadn't really been hungry to begin with and now it was simply impossible. It was his fault.

"So long as he didn't spend the night alone, I didn't see any reason to push the issue further. I am confused as to why you are upset."

Pidge felt the heat rise in her face, as did Hunk. They were being immature, they knew it, but the uncertainty of the situation was unnerving.

"Is Lance going to stop being a paladin now that you're here?" Hunk asked, again, voicing the thoughts no one else wanted to ask.

"That does not seem like the logical course of action," Frok replied, "and I highly doubt he would leave any of you so long as he is able to stay."

"Why would we kick him out?!"

"I didn't say that."

"You were thinking it!"

Frok sighed again, this time it was plain that it was an annoyed sigh, "Agent Blas does not trust lightly. It took me a long, long, long time to reach the level of comradery that we have at this time. The fact that he is so candid with you should ease your worries, yes?"

"'Candid' doesn't mean 'turthful'," Allura pointed out.

Frok looked around the table and started to piece together what the real issue was. It was foolish, and oh, so, human.

"If anyone should be jealous, it would be me," Frok said, immediately calling them out, "You both reaped the reward of my long hard work. Had you met him but two years before you did, I doubt he would have let you get anywhere close. He was and is a horrifically stubborn human, even by human standards. When Iverson assigned him to the Garrison, I severely questioned the wisdom of it. Then he came back with stories of how much fun it was."

"All we did was get into trouble…" hunk muttered.

"Over time he began to be more…short tempered with the work the agency gave him. He didn't seem to want to work anymore, but spend more time you the two of you. If anyone should be worried, its me."

"…sorry…"

"You're not worried?"

Frok shook his head, "Agent Blas may be a troublemaker and flippant at the best of occasions, but he does not joke or mess around when it comes to partnerships, or in this case teamwork. He will never take that lightly."

"See," Pidge slapped Hunks shoulder, "I told you so."

"I'm not the one who exploded," Hunk snapped back.

Allura giggled and even Coran grinned a little. It was good to know there was nothing to worry about.

The only two that didn't join in the good feelings were Shiro, who still felt everything was his fault, and Keith, who knew the real reason why Lance would never betray them.