Boy howdy did I end up rewriting this chapter more than I wanted to- but sometimes you just gotta do it. Anyways, finally, here's the finished product! Chapter ten! Double digits! I don't have a ton else to say about things, so I will just let y'all get right into it! Until next time!

maroon

chapter ten

ark

She knew she couldn't stay.

Coran and the paladins might have tried to convince her otherwise, but she knew that she had to be the one that Zarkon was tracking. Simply by being here, she was putting them all in danger- if not the entire universe.

It was how she found herself in the hangar, well after everyone had gone to bed.

Leaving without saying so much as a goodbye did not sit well with her, but she knew that if she did, they would only try to stop her. But she would not be talked out of this- she had made up her mind, even if it hurt to do so.

She had to know.

She wished that she were wrong, truly she did. But the only other option was that Zarkon was tracking them through the black lion, which had... disturbing implications. It was bad enough that Shiro had to fight him for control whenever he was near, but if he were truly able to connect with it over such a vast distance...

...then what hope did Voltron have?

It was better it was her.

Voltron could go on without her, as could the universe. But Voltron could not go on without the black lion, and the universe could not go on without Voltron.

She was the best option.

She didn't exactly expect anyone to be in the hangar, not at this hour. The only hangar that should be occupied at this hour was the red lion's hangar- where apparently Keith had taken to sleeping. She did not understand it herself, but from what she had gathered, sleeping there made him feel secure.

She could not blame him. The Castle of Lions had been breached twice, and by Galra, at that. This Blade of Marmora... in truth, she did not know what to make of them. Part of her truly wished to believe that they were everything that they claimed to be, but part of her...

...part of her was afraid to trust again.

Zarkon hadn't been the only one to betray them.

If Shiro truly wished to form an alliance with them, she would not speak against him. After all, he was the leader of Voltron, not her. But if they wished to gain her trust, they must first prove it.

Even if she now knew that the odds that Ulaz had sold them out were rather low.

It still didn't mean this wasn't some kind of trap.

Even if it weren't, she did not trust the timing of it. For one of their agents have snuck into the Castle of Lions at the same time Sendak had infiltrated it... it was too much to be a coincidence. Even if the operative in question had dealt with Haxus, it did not change the fact that it left her ill at ease.

Not to mention the fact that they had run.

As if they had something to hide.

Shaking off such thoughts, she cast a furtive glance about the hangar. As she said, she did not expect anyone to be here at this time of night, but it could not hurt to double check. The last thing she wanted was for someone to stop her.

Satisfied that the hangar was well and truly empty, she mounted one side of a pod. She was better at flying the Castle than she was one of these, but in a pinch, she could-

"Princess, what are you doing here?"

She believed the Earthlings had an expression for this- ah yes.

It felt as if her heart nearly leapt out of her throat.

She only dimly realized that she'd been caught, and only dimly realized that Keith had caught her, before she was already leaping out of his arms. Where had he even come from?

...and what was he even doing here, in full paladin armor?

Recovering her composure, she cleared her throat. "I should ask you the same thing."

For as mysterious as he could be, it would appear that outright lying was not his strong suit. Not from the way he flinched at the question, and did everything in his power to keep from looking at her, in a way that made it blatantly obvious that his goal was to avoid eye contact.

"Nothing. Just walking. Late at night." It was here where he realized what a poor job he was doing, for his voice faltered. "Near the pods."

"...in full paladin armor?"

To his credit, Keith held her gaze- before he dropped it again. "I- you were right."

Blinking, Allura frowned, the statement baffling her. Right about what?

"It's me." Keith told her. "It has to be me."

Oh.

It dawned on her then what he meant. With everything that had happened in the past few days, she had nearly forgotten about her conversation with Keith on the training deck. But now it all came back to her, fresh, as if it were yesterday.

Clearly, he hadn't.

"You?" Allura said. "It cannot be you."

Blinking, Keith looked up at her, it now his turn to be baffled. It made sense, she supposed- he hadn't been on the bridge either time, when she informed the others that she had to be the reason Zarkon kept finding them. The first time, it was because she herself had ordered him to stand by in the red lion, and the second was because he'd likely gone to sleep.

This psychic gift he possessed... it seemed to tire him out, quite easily.

Especially since, from the sound of it, he had never been taught how to properly use it. She wished that she could help him, but she was uncertain if he would even let her- he had been so against the idea of her checking his quintessence, that she could not imagine that he would.

She wouldn't even know where to begin if he did.

"You're the one who said-"

"I know." Allura cut him off. "But it is not you. It's me."

He simply stared at her, uncomprehending.

"No," recovering quickly, Keith narrowed his eyes, "-you're wrong, princess."

"Be that as it may," Allura told him, "-I cannot simply sit here, and do nothing. If I am the one that Zarkon is tracking, then I must know."

"I suspect," she added, leveling her gaze with his, "-that our reasons for being here are the same."

Opening and closing his mouth, Keith frowned. "So you're not going to stop me?"

"Stop you?" Allura asked, arching her brows, wondering if she had not made herself clear enough. "I intend to join you."

For a long moment, all he did was stare at her. She nearly thought he was about to argue with her, when his shoulders slumped, in either defeat or acceptance, though more likely some combination of the two.

"Fine," he said, "-but I'm flying."

This was not how he'd planned for this to go.

If the princess hadn't been trying to take the only pod with cloaking technology, not to mention the booster fuel that Pidge had added, he probably wouldn't have even tried to stop her. But if he was planning to outrun Zarkon, then he needed that pod.

So now here he was, stuck in a pod with Allura.

The princess of Altea.

Who bore an extremely justified grudge against the Galra.

He was Galra.

Just thinking about it made his right hand itch, and he was grateful that it was well concealed underneath his paladin armor. He was also grateful that he'd chosen to go with it in the end- if he'd worn his Marmora armor like he'd planned, he didn't think their encounter in the hangar would have gone over all that well.

Besides, the thrusters on this armor were better.

Still, this was far from an ideal situation.

With the princess here, he couldn't report back to Kolivan. Which meant he couldn't update him on anything- including whether or not Zarkon was tracking him.

He also couldn't relax.

At least he didn't seem to be alone. Chancing a look over towards the princess, he watched as she drummed a finger against the side of the pod, brows knit together like she was lost in thought. For the first hour or so, she'd tried to make small talk, but she'd since given up on that.

It didn't help that she only asked him questions about Earth.

Which... yeah, he'd spent two years there, but at the end of the day, it wasn't like he knew that much about it. He'd been kind of focused on the mission at the time.

And okay, so he had also spent a fair amount of time with Shiro, but that didn't change the fact that his knowledge about Earth was limited. The more she asked, the more it would become obvious that he didn't know what he was talking about, and he didn't think the princess would let that go as easily as the paladins.

It might not have her leaping to the conclusion that he was Galra, but it would definitely rouse suspicion.

And he'd really rather avoid that confrontation.

At least, while he was alone in a pod with her.

"Do you suppose they have noticed we are missing yet?"

Glancing back over towards Allura, he frowned. "Don't know."

"How long do you think it has been?" Allura asked. "I feel as if we have been out here for several vargas now."

"Five vargas." Keith supplied, without even thinking about it.

Looking towards him, Allura blinked. "You sound certain."

Fighting the urge to wince, Keith tried not to look too obvious about it. "I have a good internal clock."

That was normal enough, right? Being able to keep track of time down to the second was a vital skill to have as a Blade. One second's difference could spell the difference between success and failure.

"Ah," she said, sounding rather non-committal, allowing him to breathe a bit easier, "-a bit like Trigel, then."

Trigel.

It was a name he'd only heard in history lessons. Before that, he'd heard it in animated tales, told to him by Asnik, who endeavored to make each character come to life.

(He had to wonder how the princess would feel about a Galra imitating her father.)

"Shouldn't you be comparing her to Pidge?" Keith asked, absently.

Letting out a faint laugh, Allura cracked a smile. "While they are both rather inquisitive, they do not really have that much in common."

"Although," her smile fading, her brows knitting together in visible confusion, "-how did you know Trigel was the former green paladin? I do not recall ever mentioning it."

And that he did flinch at. Right. He wasn't supposed to know that. "I- Coran told me."

"Oh," Allura merely blinked, "-yes, that would make sense."

"Is... is there some reason you don't want me to know?" Keith ventured, frowning.

He knew why she'd kept the fact that Zarkon was the original black paladin from everyone, and he could even sort of guess why she'd never mentioned that her father had once flown the red lion- but as for why she had never mentioned any of the other paladins, he had no clue. Granted, he... hadn't actually thought about it until now, but now that he had, he couldn't help but be curious.

"I... no." Allura told him, her face falling. "It is just difficult to talk about."

"It is not as if I mean to keep it a secret." Allura continued. "I am aware now that I should have told all of you about Zarkon before, but I... when I went to sleep, the paladins of old were all still alive. To think them dead is..."

Oh. Right.

She was still grieving.

"...I'm sorry."

Looking up at him, Allura merely frowned. "You have nothing to apologize for."

Yeah, he did.

Maybe he hadn't destroyed her planet, or killed the paladins of old- even his grandmother hadn't been born then. But he... it was what they were taught, as Blades- that they could not run away from the sins of those who came before them, and those who were here now, simply because they were doing the right thing.

It didn't mean beating oneself up with guilt over things beyond their control, it simply meant using it to push oneself forward. To be better. To do better.

To understand.

He didn't want to be hated, but it wasn't like he didn't understand where it came from. It was why reactions like Coran's, like Shiro's... they baffled him.

"I just," he began, his brow furrowing, "-losing people hurts."

That sounded like a painful oversimplification. Of course losing people hurt. He just... knowing how it felt didn't make him any better at expressing it.

Looking over towards him, Allura pursed her lips. "Have you lost people then? Other than your father?"

It was a question that he should have expected, but it still made him flinch. Looking away, he made a show of studying the navigational charts, all so that he could avoid looking straight at her.

Too many.

Asnik, Cantor, Ulaz... countless others besides them.

They were trained, every last one of them, to be prepared to give their life for the cause. For the sake of freedom. They all knew that every mission could be their last- but that didn't make it any easier when they did lose someone.

He didn't know how Kolivan managed, sometimes.

"Yeah," he finally said, keeping his tone curt, "-I have."

Out of the corner of his eye, he could make out Allura's face falling, he gaze sympathetic. Some bitter part of him couldn't help but wonder how she would feel if she knew all those he had lost were Galra, but he pushed it aside, like the ugly thought it was.

"I am sorry." She told him, her voice quiet.

Chewing on his lip, all he did was nod. He hoped she wouldn't press the issue, but thankfully, she didn't.

It left the cockpit in an awkward state of silence, but it was better than being asked questions he didn't want to answer.

They weren't left in silence for long.

"We're being hailed."

Lifting his head, Keith noticed that she was right. Glancing over towards her, she gave him a curt nod of her head.

No sooner than had he opened a line, did Coran's voice pipe up. "Keith? Allura, where are you?"

He wondered how Coran felt about this, knowing what he was. If he'd had a moment where mistrust had won out over the strange faith that he seemed to put in him.

He wondered if Shiro had.

"Exactly where we should be." Allura said firmly. "Far away from the Castle."

At least he agreed with her on that.

"...so, should we go back?"

She didn't expect the question from Keith, of all people.

Folding her arms in front of her, Allura frowned. "No. We stay here, until Zarkon finds one of us."

Perhaps Shiro was right- perhaps they were stronger together. But it did not change the fact that she needed to do this- and judging by the curt nod Keith gave her in reply, he felt the same way.

It was strange to think that they both had the same thought. Perhaps it was because she knew so little about him, but she had always been under the impression that the two of them were vastly different. But perhaps, she realized, Keith was not as different from her as she had first thought- their earlier conversation might have been brief, but it had been rather revealing.

She had known for awhile now that Keith had lost his father when he was very young, and that from the sound of it, unlike her own, he was not a good man. She did not know what he had done to earn such resentment from his son, but it was likely deserved.

What she didn't know was that his father wasn't the only one.

She didn't dare to ask questions. Not when her own loss was still so raw within her chest. Perhaps to the rest of the universe, it was ancient history, but to her, it was as if it had all happened only yesterday.

In truth, she had been trying not to dwell on it.

She had thrown herself into her commanding role, doing everything she could to avoid thinking about the magnitude of her loss. She knew that if she did, she would surely break.

Losing her father for the second time had not been easy.

It, and other recent events, had forced her to think on things she did not want to. The paladins learning of Zarkon's former status of the black paladin. This... proposed allegiance, with the group of Galran rebels, who called themselves the Blade of Marmora.

Glancing over towards Keith, she could not help but frown. It was hard to forget how he had viewed her with such suspicion when they had first met, to the point where he had been unwilling to take his eyes off of her. And yet, when Shiro had spoke of Ulaz...

...he'd been the first to trust it.

She could not help but feel a bit miffed.

Part of her understood it. It was clear that Shiro was important to Keith, so if this Ulaz really had done what he said he had, then he had every reason to trust him. Still...

"We've been here for hours," Keith observed, breaking her out of her thoughts, which she was glad for, "-still no sign of Zarkon."

"Well, I'm glad I do not have to wait here alone." Allura admitted. As awkward as Keith's company was, it was better than nothing. She was not one to endure boredom well.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noted the way he blinked at that statement, but apparently chose not to say anything. Frowning, she couldn't help but wonder just what kind of impression Keith had of her- and how much worse it had gotten after she had confronted him back on the training deck.

Clearly, she had made some kind of error.

"You understand," she began, knowing he would, "I could never live with myself if Zarkon was finding us because of me. I must know. We face such a dire threat from the Galra."

Something in Keith's face almost seemed to fall at the statement, though he quickly slipped his guard back up. He must have not known that she was looking at him, she thought, and unable to help herself, she felt her frown deepen.

"...do you really think they're all like that?"

If it weren't for how sharp her hearing was, she surely would not have heard him. Brows drawing together, she opened her mouth to make a sharp protest- before she forced herself to reel it back in. The last thing that she wanted was to start a fight with Keith, especially when what she really needed to give him was an apology.

She should not have confronted him the way she had, she realized that now.

And yet, she could not let that question go either.

"You must understand," Allura told him, "-that it was not only Zarkon who betrayed us."

Looking up at her, Keith's face became that of a mask. "Yeah, I get that. But just look at Ulaz- he sacrificed himself to save us. And even before that, he put himself at risk just to save Shiro."

"For all we know, it could be a ploy." Allura pointed out. "One life means nothing to Zarkon."

"Well yeah," Keith admitted, "-but doesn't it seem a little convoluted for a trap?"

Blinking, Allura's brow furrowed. "Go on."

"I mean... if it's true, and this whole thing is some kind of trap," Keith told her, "-then that means Zarkon himself gave the orders for the solar barrier to be lowered."

"Yes, true." Allura admitted.

"So why would he just let us go?" Keith asked. "If he had us right where he wanted us, why risk that for something way more complicated than just firing on the Castle of Lions?"

Opening her mouth, Allura quickly shut it. Now that he mentioned it, he did actually present a good point. It was a bit on the convoluted side, wasn't it? And while she did not put it past Zarkon to be clever- he would not have been able to conquer as much of the universe as he had if he did not possess such a good head for wartime strategy, but from what she knew of him, he was also rather pragmatic.

As much as she was loathe to admit it, Keith was right.

"Perhaps," Allura admitted, "-but perhaps all that means is that there is someone within Zarkon's ranks who does not hold true to his loyalties. I would not put it past him to use that to his advantage."

"True." Keith said. "But Shiro had to get to Earth somehow. And Ulaz mentioned the name of his group to him during his escape. How could Zarkon possibly have known?"

"If what Shiro remembers is correct." Allura pointed out. "His Galra arm does leave him vulnerable to such tactics."

"If there was that kind of programming in it, don't you think Pidge would have found it by now?" Keith asked. "All I'm saying is, is that maybe not every Galra actually agrees with Zarkon."

For a long moment, all she could do was stare at him. The impression that she had gotten of Keith was one that was paranoid, skittish, even- hearing him speak of trust seemed... out of character, almost.

But then, she did not know him very well.

"Perhaps not," Allura admitted, "-but how can we be certain that they do not simply seek power for themselves?"

For the span of a second, she could have sworn that something slipped past Keith's mask. It was too quick for her to place exactly what it was, but just the fact that it had was worthy of note.

He opened his mouth again, but he did not get a chance to say whatever it was he wanted.

"Keith, Allura," Coran's voice cut in, "-are you there?"

In hindsight, he probably should have paid a bit more attention to Coran's tone.

But how was he supposed to know that actually using the booster fuel would cause the pod to explode? Hunk and Coran had used the stuff to escape the Balmera the first time around, so why would now be any different?

Whatever the case, they were effectively stranded now. The force of the blast must have knocked out his radio- and Allura's earring communicators were too short range to be of any use.

Even worse, only his suit had thrusters, which meant that not only did he have to support his own weight with them, but he also had to support Allura's. It made the slow trip back to the Castle of Lions that much slower.

There was just no way they would reach it in time.

Sure, yeah, he was relived to find out that Zarkon wasn't tracking him after all- but the knowledge would have been a lot more comforting if he had some kind of assurance that the other paladins were safe. Which, based of what he'd heard... no, they were not.

Coran said they needed them back as fast as possible, and he'd just blown up their only chance of doing that. Great. Just great.

Sure, there was always the chance that they could pull through without him- but Coran wouldn't have called him back with that much urgency if that were true.

"We never should have done this." Allura's voice was soft, but layered with guilt. "Shiro was right. We should have stuck together."

He was.

He hated to admit it, but he really was.

Closing his eyes, Keith tried to steady his thoughts. He couldn't let them get the better of him, not at a time like this. Right now, he had to focus on getting back to the Castle of Lions, as fast as possible.

Sure, he could make better time if he ditched Allura, but even he wouldn't do something like that. Without any thrusters, she would simply drift in space, at the mercy of whatever came along. Even if they came back to get her, who knew if she would still be there when they did?

So no. Not an option.

Allura did not try to protest the silence, not this time.

Which was for the best. He'd definitely already said too much to her today. Being stuck in an enclosed space with Allura had been a terrible idea- he didn't think he'd said enough to make her suspect him, but he definitely hadn't done much to keep himself from being suspicious.

He tried to pick over his earlier conversation with her, wondering if he had said anything else wrong. His earlier slip with Trigel's name had been bad, but at least she had seemed to accept his explanation without so much as a second thought. He'd... probably have to bring it up to Coran, to make sure they were both on the same page, just in case, but he hopefully hadn't given her the impression that he knew more than he should.

Or that he was Galra.

He just... he had to do something.

Sure, he understood where Allura was coming from- but Ulaz had been right. If they wanted to make a change, then both the paladins of Voltron and the Blade of Marmora needed to work together.

And in order to do that, they needed trust.

He held the key to that.

Both to making it and breaking it.

Whatever the case, he knew that he had to be the one to tell the paladins the truth. If they found it out from someone who wasn't him, even if it were Kolivan... then he would break that trust, no matter what Shiro said. But if he was the one to tell them...

...well, he'd still break that trust, but maybe it would have a chance to recover.

He had to do it.

"Keith, look," opening his eyes, he couldn't help but note the awe in Allura's voice, "-the red lion found you."

Gaze fixing on it, he felt something deep within him stir, the red lion's low rumble all but filling his thoughts.

Paladin, she said, trust.

Taking in a deep breath, he closed his eyes once more, letting the red lion's energy wash through him.

Okay.