When Lance entered the Picture room he saw all four friends huddle together with their heads almost touching.

"Uh-oh," Lance said shutting the door, "what's up?"

"We figured it out!"

"What?"

"O section is the Observation section, A section is the Action section, S section is the Secret-keeper section…or Sabotage, we're split 50/50 on that, and K is Kickstart or basically those that recruit, right?"

Way to go," Lance nodded, "glad I don't have to explain that."

"But what is B?" Hunk asked, "we can't-"

"Bitch," Lance said, no hesitation, "as in 'son of a' because that's what everyone says when they realize we're working with them."

"For real, Lance," Pidge said rolling her eye, but she was smiling, "what's it stand for?"

Lance sighed, "Stands for Black ops. I told you: I do all the jobs no one else wants to."

"You do them by yourself?"

Lance took a seat and shrugged, "at first. Then an A3 complained that I rained on his parade and Iverson said I had to have a partner. Which pissed me off to no end. Frok did his best, but I was so used to working by myself that I saw him as more of a burden."

"So…" Allura, Pidge, and Hunk looked over at Keith, who sighed.

"Fine."

"So this attitude change," Pidge said quickly, "are you faking it with us even now?"

"What?"

"I mean, you were all moody and everything when we first met and faked being friendly and all, so are you still faking it?" Hunk asked in a rush, tears welling up in his eyes.

"NO!" Lance snapped, glaring at him, "guys, I'm just me! I never faked being anyone friend! Hunk, you are so….just…you really don't remember how much I really didn't talk to you at first? I sure don't remember looking you in the eye till second year! Heck, I didn't see us as friends till we blew up that goo in science and got chewed out by Iverson. The only thing I faked was my desire to be a fighter pilot."

"Wait…WHAT?"

"What do you MEAN?!"

"But you hated me for who knows how long because-"

"Because I tried to talk to you for months and you ignored me every time," Lance said scowling at Keith, "and then you asked who I was every time I had to talk to you. Every. Time. You were a butt."

"But but but!" Hunk said, "You-you locked me out of the room!"

"I was so happy, I couldn't hide the fact and locked you out so you wouldn't see," Lance said, "Fighter pilots had teams. I was suffering with a partner, I had NO desire to have more people to muddle up my jobs."

"But you did become a fighter pilot," Keith said.

"Yeah, cause you went and hit Iverson," Lance snapped, "You idiot. I swear, its all your fault!"

"My fault?"

"yeah."

"Iverson said that it was-"

"I know what Boss said, and its just what he says as a commander, that's it. Did you have to HIT HIM?! If you had let him finish, he would have helped you out! Iverson has a soft spot for everyone and he was totally about to offer you aid and help, but nooo, you had to hit him IN FRONT OF THE OTHER TEACHERS!"

Keith blushed, "he was blaming Shiro for what happened at Kerberos-"

"We knew it wasn't their fault," Lance rolled his eyes, "but that's what the rest of the Earth knew about it, so he couldn't tell you otherwise. If you had hit him when you guys were alone, then you wouldn't have been expelled, and I would have been happy as a cargo pilot till the end of my assignment."

"What was your assignment?"

"Classified."

"You don't wanna say?"

"I'll write it all in my will for you all to read," Lance laughed, then stopped as they all weren't laughing, or even rolling their eyes like normal. Suddenly they were serious, "What?"

"Is it true that no B1 has survived past 30?"

Lance sighed, "O9 talked your ears off, huh?"

"Just answer the question."

"Yes," Lance said simply, "Its true."

"How did your trainer die?" Allura asked, but Lance was already shaking his head.

"I don't want to talk about it right now," he said firmly and changed the subject, the others let him, "I just got off the phone with Iverson. He's sending transport to us so we'll get to the garrison in about three months."

"Three months!?"

"We'll be going by the emergency tunnels, so yeah, it takes a while."

()

O9 and five others crowded around the small door window as they watched B1 and his 'friends'. The room was sound proofed, like all the others, but they watched as B1 laughed and the small girl tugged angerly on his cheeks.

They were so casual with him! They even used his real name! They had been sure that B1 didn't even have a real name!

"I don't believe my own eyes…"

"I thought I'd see a black hole before I'd see this…"

"I heard the large yellow one was friends with him BEFORE he disappeared."

"Now I know that's a lie."

"Maybe he had an NDE and decided to change?"

"Yeah right, B1's don't care about dying, that's why they're B1's, susan."

"Bite me, Bob."

"Guys…"

They looked up into the window again and saw five pares of eyes looking at them. One pair was not happy. And that scared them.

The big one walked up and opened the door, "there's something you want?"

He was way too nice to be B1's first friend.

"Um, we just wanted to know…

"We just…"

"I still don't believe it."

"Shush!"

"Hey, think you guys could get us something to eat while we wait?" Lance called, his voice like steal, "and stop snooping like the-"

Smack!

All six O's mouths dropped. Both girls had smacked B1 on the back of the head.

"Stooop."

"Honestly, I know it must be habitual, but try to not be such a jerk."

Lance looked up and glared at them both, "I do have a reputation to protect."

"Ohhh?" Pidge sneered and raised her voice so every thing she said could be heard, "Like NEVER passing the simulator? Or failing three out of five classes? Or-"

"No, more like not letting the pleebs think I like them," Lance muttered so only Pidge could hear.

"Oh, so you DO like them!" She shouted, having fun.

"NO!"

"But you said-"

"Quiznak Pidge!"

He reached over and grabbed her face, O2 shrieked, but Pidge just laughed and continued to tease. To the O's surprise, B1 stared to laugh as well.

Him laughing, forget laughing, was something they would never get used to.

"Fine, fine, fine," Lance said turning around to face the door, "I'm sorry, but I am starving, and if I'm hungry, then I know Hunk is."

"I could eat a horse."

"Settle for a cow?"

"Mmmm…cow…"

"Stake," Pidge sighed, "Ohhh and pizza…"

"Potato chips…"

"anything," Keith said, his own gut rumbling loudly, "I'll eat anything."

"I'm starting to take offence," Allura said folding her arms.

"Just wait to try it," Pidge said waving a hand at her, "Then you'll see."

"oooor, is there something else?" Lance asked peeking at them past Hunk, "You're doing your shifty-shuffle, spill."

The O's blushed.

"Well…we just.."

"PLEASE LET US USE THE LIONS!"

The paladins stared.

"What?"

"Can't you just imagine the amount of research we could do within our own solar system alone if we had but ONE of those ships?!" O4 shouted, all of them getting very excited as well, "We could do SO much! And LEARN so much! With technology like that we could-"

"we could bring back SO MANY samples!"

They went on and on and on about everything they had ever wanted to do.

"Are they serious?" Keith asked Lance who nodded.

"yup."

"don't they know there's a fleet of enemy aliens waiting to blow the Earth to bits and they're here….geeking out about solar research?"

"I have always had this theory," Lance said, "that they are really androids and that no matter how dire the threat, their default will always be their projects."

Keith sat back in his chair and watched these agency researchers. He didn't know if he should be angry with their disregard for the situation, or impressed with how dedicated they were to their work.

"Tell you all what!" Lance called out, making them stop, "We can't lend you the lions, only we can fly them. And I'm not going to speak for my team, but, if you get us a feast of everything Hunk tells you to get, I'll personally fly two missions for you once this is all over. One to Mercury, and one to Venus."

The silence in the room was absolute.

"You would?"

"Really?"

"To Venus?"

"Can you get that close to the sun?"

"The Red Lion is specially equipped to handle dangerously hot places," Keith said, "I think that's what he's volunteering for."

"But…really?"

"Just get us food," Lance said, "And those two missions are yours."

O9 almost burst into tears as he turned and ran away to get the orders. O4 was the only one who stayed behind to actually get their orders.

"I hope Iverson gets here soon," Lance sighed, "I think I opened pandoras box."

()

Sure enough, by the time Iverson got there with the transport vehicles, word had gotten around to all of O section that B1 was secretly a softy. However, only about 25% of them believed the rumor.

They helped out around the facility, Hunk and Pidge making themselves right at home. Keith gained a reputation of being a clutz and someone to be feared.

O section logic saw that B1 was taking orders from the one in Red armor. That meant that the one in Red armor was to be respected at all costs…even if they wouldn't allow him near the glassware.

Lance took the time to really flush out all his reports with more detail for the council, once it was put back together again. He knew they would want it, and since they had time, he thought 'why not'? the paladins had already discussed what needed to happen with the limited knowledge they had about the situation. They knew it was up for change the moment they got back to the garrison.

One night as Pidge, Hunk, and O9 stayed up late to oversee a programming function, Pidge took the opportunity to get the guy talking again.

"Question," she said, spinning a pen in her fingers, "You said there was an agent that was a B1U3, but there is no section U that we've heard of."

O9 seemed to wilt, "that is because it no longer exists."

"What did the U section do?" Hun pressed and O9 sighed.

"Section U were the Underminers; they built the entire underground systems and are essentially the reason we've been able to save as many people as we have all around the globe! They were a fearless lot, too. Loud, good natured – for the most part- and large, boy, they were large. The strongest section physically."

"What happened to them?"

O9 shrugged, "They disappeared. No one really knows. The council chose to close down the U section entirely when the A's and S's lost the investigation. I heard even the B1's couldn't find out what happened to them."

"A whole section disappeared without a trace?"

"We questioned every planet, even those outside out alliance, but couldn't find them."

"We also heard that he had a follow up trainer…"

O9 laughed, "no, that was not a follow up trainer, there are no 'follow up' trainers in the agency. All I know is that the current B1 had to have a tutor after his training. Who was it…I think it was S2K10, if I remember correctly."

"K10?!"

"Ah, so you know how the codes work. S section is notorious for training a lot of potentials. You won't find many with a secondary S since S section prefers to train everyone primary. Only prodigies trained as primaries in other sections get the honor of being a secondary S."

"Sooo, not Lance," Pidge grinned and Hunk chuckled. O9 watched them.

"How did…you become friends with B1?"

They looked at each other, "We ate snacks."

O9 blinked, then laughed, "If only we had thought of the same thing!"

"Is he really that different?" Hunk asked. Lance had said that he had himself, but Hunk still didn't see it.

"That boy could look at you and you'd never believe that face knew what a smile was, let alone how to," O9 said, silencing them, "He also has a tongue that can cut stone. Us in the O section never ran into him much, but when we did, it wasn't uncommon for us to be reduced to tears."

"You're what 30…40 something?"

"Cried like I was a toddler," O9 said, unashamed, "O9K2 was in his sixties and he locked himself in his room for days after going on a mission with him. Its like he can see what makes you tick and then uses it against you."

"He can't," Pidge said and rolled her eyes.

"You would probably boost his ego if he heard you just now," Hunk said, leaning on his fist.

"Lance, contrary to popular belief, is a people person," Pidge said, "he's no all knowing, but if you talk enough, he'll know."

"People talk when their nervous," Hunk added, "so he glared at you to get you to start talking, then he used what you said against you."

"Simple sociology."

O9's jaw hung open. He couldn't really tell when he rambled on, but it was a possibility. He knew he liked to jabber, most researchers liked to babble. But…

"You make him sound so tame. You make him LOOK so tame. He was known among every section as the Beast section. Now he's offering to accompany us on missions! He actually ran a few errands the other day! He says 'please' and 'thank you'!"

"Sooo he was an uncultured and rude kid," Hunk said, then scowled, "I know his mother, she would have his hide if she knew…"

()

"Boss," Lance grinned as he walked up to the old man, the other paladins hanging back, "Only one month?! That's got to be a-"

They were as shocked as everyone else when Iverson walked quickly to meet Lance and then embraced him.

"You're in one piece!"

"Yeah, you think? What are you doing out of your hole anyway? Aren't you the link between the garrison and the agency?"

"I had to make sure it was really you," Iverson said finally letting go and then he scowled, "Your hair is longer."

"Not many ways to cut hair without losing the whole head in the process out there," Lance replied grinning, "I can't wait to get it cut."

"I think it looks nice long," Allura said coming up behind them.

"Still gonna cut it…if not buzz it."

"This must be the princess I heard so much about," Iverson said, shoving Lance out of the way and holding out his hand.

"Gee, you're not creepy at all," Lance muttered. As Iverson Allura talked Lance turned to the others who were looking at him as if his skin had changed color.

"What?"

"But," Hunk said, "Iverson hated you…"

"The hug?"

"the hell?"

"I told you all that he's not a bad guy. Commander Iverson is just a front so he can keep an eye on the goings on in the garrison. His real job is B Section Head. And since I'm the only B, then I get special attention."

He was being smug.

He was being smug about being Iverson favorite.

"I think this is what it feels like to 'need a drink'," Pidge said, shaking her head.

()

"Woooooooaaaaaaa."

They gazed at the vehicles that had brought Iverson and two other officers. They were not what Lance remembered.

"where did you guys get these," Lance asked running his hand along the side of the slick vehicle. It was a dark gray, and even with the thick coating of dust it accumulated while traveling underground, it still shone.

"The short reports you sent back," Iverson said, "You would mention some logistics that I would…casually mention to the Jermites. Their pride created these."

"Three months into one month…" Lance whistled, "awesome."

"Cross continental," Hunk shook his head, "I wanna take it apart…"

"After we get back," Keith said pulling the tool box out of Hunks hands.

"Good to see you Kogane," Iverson said, holding out his hand. Keith eyed it, remembered what Lance had said, and then took it.

"I still don't like you," Keith said.

"Fair," Iverson nodded.

()

The reason it took so long was because there was only so long one can sit in a car. They had to stop and stretch and Iversons bones popped every time.

"I'm too young to be old," he complained.

"It isn't that bad," O9 said, easing himself into a full standing position, "I'm too old to be traveling like this anyway. Damn those aliens...making traveling so difficult…I could shave their faces off with a lazer…"

O9's bad temper was new, even to Lance. The fact that the man COULD have a bad temper wasn't not something that had crossed any of their minds. Fact was, O9 was a 'home-body'. He liked his lab and he liked his room. He did NOT like traveling and he HATED spending time away from his projects. However, his Jermite partner, Mab, had convinced him that they should go with them to the garrison.

()

Jackson felt his anger rise.

For the most part, the Balmerans were a very laid back culture. They were loving and accepting to all sort of suggestions.

The Hogros were as well. They were amiable and soft on the out side as well as on the inside. Most looked nothing like the Hogros that he had seen at the agency. At the agency they were large and buff, these were, well, short and buff.

His trainer and B1 had suspected that the two races would get along well.

And they did.

A little too well.

"We have done out part," Grishi said, "we've done all we could, and we still are, but we are not a natural fighting people. The few of us that answer that call are already on other planets. There is little we can do to help."

"Oh, we understand," Shey said, "of course we understand. We are not a fighting race either."

Jackson bit his bottom lip. They had been agreeing with each other and simpering with each other for days and days. Everytime Jackson tried to cut in, Rax would hold him back. Every time he tried to say something to Shey privately about moving things along, she would either ignore him, or tell him that everything was going to plan.

But everything was NOT going to plan! This was worse that those "no you go first" polite-offs!

()

The garrison really did seem different after all this time.

Smaller.

Simpler.

Even with everyone running around and the technology had gotten much more advanced since the last time they'd been there.

"What did you tell them in those reports?!" Pidge asked looking at lance as if he'd suddenly sprouted antenna from his head.

"I only mentioned what we did, nothing technical at all," Lance defended himself, "You know me. I can shoot and put together a gun, but that's about as tech savvy as I get!"

"This is what out neighbors call 'human creativity'," Iverson said, a little smugly, "Let us know that something is actually possible, and we'll stop and nothing to achieve it. The healing pods are proving the most difficult to design and get working, but the suit you wear and the barrier. We've made a lot of progress in a short time."

"Ha!"

Iverson stopped and turned to Allura.

"From what I've seen," she replied to his questioning look, "humans don't need to know that its possible. They just do it."

Iverson and everyone laughed.

"That was really only a half compliment," she added, "you lot seriously need to know your limits."

"Limits are boring,"

"Limits are meant to be broken."

"That's true, just look at speed limits."

"Give us limits and we'll see it as a challenge."

They all grinned at her. She gave in with a roll of her eyes, "just so long as you don't die, I'm fine."

"Kogane," Iverson said, becoming serious, "I'll need to talk to you in my office. Everyone else can show the princess around and see what's been going on. But I would like a chance to explain things to you personally."

Keith looked at lance.

Lance avoided eye contact.

"Ok…"