It took a few hours for everyone to get cleaned up and for Coran to clean the trail from the lions to the healing bay. Everyone had to make sure their armor was cleaned in every crack and the under armor was thrown into the laundry. Showers were taken and once done, Hunk headed to the kitchen to start up some dinner. He would focus on making some good comfort food today because it seemed like everyone could use it.

Soon enough, everyone was gathered at the dining table, having been drawn there by the smell of Hunk's inevitably delicious food. The atmosphere was still a little heavy, but the sight of macaroni and cheese, warm bread rolls with butter and country fried chicken was enough to lift anyone's spirits. What ingredients Hunk used to make this, and make it taste so much like home, no one really knew, but what they all knew was that Hunk was a wizard at making some really incredible food. That was all they needed to know.

They tore into the dinner, piling their plates high. Matt especially filled his plate, finding Hunk's food to be a dream compared to what he'd been eating for the past year and a half. Lance hung back, however, looking a little distant and distracted until Pidge filled up a plate for him and set it in front of him. It seemed to bring him back to reality and he flashed her a thankful smile.

Hunk's food did wonders for everyone's moods and soon enough the room was filled with cheerful chatter. Allura found the macaroni to be delightful and suggested that they bring some of this "mac & cheese" to the diplomatic dinner tomorrow evening, but quickly seemed to change that opinion when Hunk revealed that the cheese was actually made from Kaltenecker's milk. Coran, however, was growing slowly more accustomed to the many uses of milk and questioned Hunk on how the same ingredients for a milkshake could possibly be used in cheese. Hunk was more than happy to explain the process, which only repulsed Allura more.

"Look, you have to avoid the flames and dodge, grab the rope above his head, and pull down the chandelier above him. There's no way to fight him head on." Matt, Pidge and Lance had fallen into an intense discussion of a particularly difficult level in Killbot Phantasm I, but Matt's advice wasn't being accepted. "I played this game when I was a kid, I remember beating it that way."

"I'm telling you, we tried grabbing the rope. Nothing falls and we just swing there until he notices us and we get burnt to death." Lance frowned, sounding sure of himself. He had struggled through this level with Pidge over a dozen times! He had an idea of the environment by now.

"No, no, you're thinking of the wrong game." Pidge crossed her arms, replaying the moves in her mind. "There is a rope and a chandelier, but if we try to grab it we just swing to a platform in the background. There are no targets around to hit either. We're safe on the platform though, but we can't do anything from it."

"No, I'm sure I'm thinking of the right game." Matt brought a hand to his chin as he shut his eyes, digging through some deep memories to try to recall this battle. He knew he was right, but what was he forgetting?

Pidge mimicked her brother's expression. "We must be missing something. The game wouldn't send us to the boss unprepared. This is a linear game. It's not an open world where we can accidentally run into a monster that's way above our level."

"Hey, give the game some credit. It was pretty revolutionary for its time. A lot of people were still making side scrollers, so when this game had multiple views it was a pretty big deal. And the graphics were great!" Matt pointed out, but he just earned an eye roll from his sister.

"Wait, I think I know what we might be missing." Lance's eyes lit up with a realization. "Maybe if we grab the rope and equip the metal boots it'll make us heavy enough to pull down the chandelier."

"That's it!" Matt pounded a fist to his palm as his memory returned at Lance's words. "I forgot about the metal boots!"

"Metal boots…? When did we get…?" Pidge's expression went from curious to rage in a millisecond. "You played without me?! What the heck, Lance!? You got metal boots? We agreed to only play together!"

"Well, you were off finding Matt and I was bored." Lance defended, backing away a little. It wasn't far enough and he winced when she punched him in the arm, giving him an angry growl.

"All right, everyone." Shiro's loud voice cut through the conversation from the head of the table. Immediately, all talking stopped and all eyes were on him. "We have a lot of things we need to discuss. We need to get started. Let's begin with Lotor."

"He seems to be sleeping quiet peacefully in the holding chamber." Coran pointed out.

"We can't hold him forever. We'll have to make a decision." Shiro set his elbows on the table, intertwining his fingers together. He pressed them to his lips as he thought for a moment. "Our victory at the Galra hub was a success, and it did gain us a lot of new territory, and hopefully soon, allies. Concerning that mission, everything Lotor said was true."

"Yeah, but what about the second one? You can't tell me that wasn't a trap." Lance blurted out a little harsher than he intended as he folded his arms across his chest.

"We don't know that it was." Coran tapped the small device in the center of the table, pulling up the map that Kolivan and Keith had acquired from the outpost. "The information on the chip Keith had seems to map out a branching system of traveling quintessence. We know the Blades of Marmora have been tracking this new quintessence supply line and this map gives them exact locations of where to go to find some answers concerning that. It could lead to a much larger plan. And this is only one of the documents that we've looked at. On that chip there could be hundreds of more documents with information about the Galra's plan. I can't imagine that Lotor would willingly lead us to a place with such valuable information for it to be a trap."

"He expected them to die. The place exploded!" Lance flung his arms wide as he felt he was pointing out the obvious. "It doesn't matter what they know if they're dead!"

"That's just it, though." Pidge spoke up beside him. "Even if it was a trap, there's no guarantee that there's a 100% chance that they'll die. I mean, we're seeing that now. Keith and Kolivan survived. Lotor isn't dumb enough not to think of the possibility of survival. If he wanted to trap them, he would have sent them somewhere with useless information or no information at all. The fact that he sent them there is telling us that what he knows is valuable, and if we accept his deal, he'll let us in on it. I don't think this was a trap."

"Then why did the place blow up? If it wasn't a trap they should have been in and out easily." Lance was listening to their argument, but that didn't mean he agreed. He didn't trust Lotor one bit, and he wasn't going to be so easily swayed. It was exactly like Pidge said. He wasn't dumb. He could be playing them right into his hands with all this.

"Maybe they couldn't be stealthy?" Hunk muttered his question aloud and his voice got louder as he fit the pieces together. "I mean there were three other people aboard, right? I'm sure at least one would have been guarding the control panel at all times. Obviously they got the information, so they found some way around it, but we've all fought the Galra. They don't go down easily. If Keith and Kolivan were aiming for stealth, I doubt they took out anyone before they reached the control room, so they probably set up a distraction to limit their opponents to one or two. Maybe they couldn't move fast enough, or maybe someone came back before they could get out."

"It's true that they were able to acquire incredibly valuable information. That really cuts down any likeliness that it could have been a trap." Allura tapped a finger to her lips. "Someone likely saw that they had been infiltrated and set off the bomb as a last attempt at victory. I believe this wasn't a trap, but rather a way of Lotor telling us that he knows much more than he is willing to share until we accept his offer. He wants us to understand that we require his aid to defeat them. He was the one who suggested stealth, which means he must have known about the outposts defenses if we were caught. But yet he still bothered to warn us, which leads me to believe that he truly did want us to gather this intel."

"If we don't accept his offer, we're losing out on a huge wealth of information." Matt leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. "There's no one else we can talk to that'll have as much dirt on the Galra as he will. He can help us take down the Empire and lead us straight to Zarkon. He knows that, and both of these missions were just to tell us how important that is for our goal."

"So the question narrows down to whether the information he can give us is worth the risk of accepting his offer." Shiro set his hands on the table and looked at the rest of them. "We're a team here. I'm going to need all of your support if we decide to accept his offer. We all have to be on the same page."

There was a moment of silence while everyone formed their opinion, and Hunk was the first to speak up, though he sounded a little sheepish when he did. "I think maybe we should give him a chance. I'm not saying we have to trust him. I'm just saying that obviously he knows a lot more than we do, and that information is the only thing that'll really get us ahead in this war. I mean the coalition is going great and all, but we don't know what they're planning or what this quintessence is going to be used for, and Lotor does. We can't afford to let that information go."

"Hunk is right." Allura chimed in, but she sounded regretful about her own words and she grimaced when she spoke them. "It pains me to accept the idea of allowing Lotor to join our team, but this is a war. He cannot allow valuable information to go to waste. This does not mean that I will trust him, and he will be monitored at all times. Our acceptance of his offer does not eliminate the possibility of his future betrayal. We will need to keep that fact in our minds at all times."

"I agree with Hunk and Allura." Pidge straightened up as she voiced her own opinion. "We'll get as much information as we can out of him, but we'll have to keep our guard up. The possibility isn't zero that he could genuinely want to help us, but we'll be prepared for the worst. That's all we can do in this war. We need to get ahead everywhere that we can."

Matt nodded his agreement beside her and turned to Lance. All eyes were on Lance now. He was quiet, shaking his head slightly. "What if all of this is just Lotor's elaborate plan to get to us? To get us to warm up to him so he can betray us, just like you said, Allura? Yeah, accepting his offer could help us, or he could lead us straight to Zarkon with false information and lies. I don't trust him."

"Neither do I, and we know that this is a huge gamble." Shiro made eye contact with Lance, and his expression was genuine and slightly soft. "But this gamble could be the line between victory and defeat for us. I believe that chance for victory is worth taking as long as we all work together. We can do this. We are the paladins of Voltron. Lotor shouldn't be a threat to us."

Lance let out a heavy sigh and his shoulders hung. "Keith should be a part of this decision."

"I know, but unfortunately, it'll be a while before he'll wake up and we need to make a choice. Lance, we need to know what you think." Shiro's stare bore into the side of Lance's head as he avoided his gaze.

"I don't trust him." Lance repeated again. He clenched his fists slightly nd let out an agitates sigh before he finally turned to face Shiro. "I'll accept his offer because we need the information, but I won't trust him."

Once dinner was finished and cleaned up, everyone's exhaustion from the last two day's battles made itself very apparent. Eyelids were heavy and contagious yawns were spread throughout the room until everyone wished each other a good night and retreated to their separate bedrooms.

Before going to his room, Lance decided to make a quick detour to the healing bay. Hopefully a few hours had done Keith some good, though it wasn't likely that he would be awake yet.

He meandered into the bay, but noticed immediately that Kolivan's pod was still completely frosted over, so checking on him would have to be through the sensors alone. Keith's however, had defrosted enough to show his torso up.

It was a relief that the system had healed him enough to be seen and Lance stepped up to the pod, observing the damage. His suit was still torn to shreds, but all of the smaller cuts were now either completely healed, or most of the way there. He couldn't see the progress of the deeper gashes on his back and calves, but the pod was doing its job, and that was a relief.

"Good. I was worried for a minute that I'd have to go find a new hot-headed, reckless rival." Lance let out a soft chuckle as his nerves began to ease up a little. He hadn't really realized how tense he'd been until now. "I'm not sure I'd find anyone else with a mullet who could match your impulsiveness and poor decision making skills."

He shot Keith a sly grin, as if he was waiting for Keith's quick and snappy reply, but when he looked at Keith's face, his smile vanished. He couldn't hear him, and his face was otherwise stoic except for a stream of tears that fell steadily across his cheeks. It must have been some kind of involuntary reaction from the pod or something, but even so, it came as a shock to Lance. He'd never even imagined seeing Keith cry.

He was the ace pilot who was confident in his abilities. The guy who was always jumping head first into battle without a second thought and lashing out in angry responses when they made fun of him. He was the cool, loner, swordsman. He was someone Lance had always -though unadmittedly- wanted to be like. He didn't cry…right?

"Can't sleep?" Shiro's voice from the doorway made Lance jerk a little as he was pulled out of his own thoughts. Shiro gave him a gentle smile and took a place beside him, following his gaze to Keith's pod.

"I was gonna head to bed soon, just wanted to stop by and see how it was going." Lance gave a small shrug. "Did you let Lotor out yet?"

"No, we'll wait till tomorrow." Shiro crossed his arms as he peered at Keith. "Someone will need to keep watch over him, and for tonight I think everyone needs a good night's rest. That includes you too, Lance."

"Yeah, I know." Lance tucked his hands in his pockets and cast a glance at the ground as he debated his words in his head. After a moment of silence he finally looked back up at Shiro. "Listen, Shiro. I…there's something I want to talk to you about."

"What is it?" Shiro looked down at him, catching his eyes with a look of concern. Lance couldn't exactly ease that concern. These words weren't easy to say.

"I think…" He paused. He was Shiro's right hand man now. He had to be able to voice these opinions for the better of the team. He took just a second to steel himself and meet Shiro's eye contact. "I really think Keith needs to come back and pilot Red."

"What…?" Shiro was expectedly taken aback. "But Lance-"

"Look, we've seen it before and we saw it again today." Lance cut him off in order to relay his reasoning. "Keith has a super strong bond with Red. I mean, he hasn't piloted Red for months now, and yet today, he traveled across an entire galaxy to save him. I don't have that kind of bond with Red. I don't think he would do the same thing for me."

"You and Red have been working great together, Lance." Shiro knit his brows together as he tried to follow Lance's train of thought. He had seen him working hard to master Red's speed and abilities. So why was he saying this now?

"I know, but it's still not even close to what Keith and Red had. And it's not like Keith ever wanted to give that up to begin with, just like I didn't want to leave Blue. He only left Red because you were gone and someone had to pilot Black. Keith never wanted to take your place, and I think Red still wants to be with him." Lance's words were growing quicker and louder as he pieced all his thoughts together. "Besides, I'm not the right hand man that you need. You and Keith worked so well together and now…well, it's like you won't even listen to anything I say just because I'm not Keith. And I'll never be Keith. I'm not right for Red, and Keith needs to be the red paladin again. It'll be better for you and for the team. We can't even form sword without Keith. Voltron is stronger with him. We need him back on the team."

"Lance, slow down." Shiro set both hands on Lance's shoulders, and it wasn't until then that he realized that he'd been pacing in a circle as he talked. "You're not wrong for Red, and you're not wrong for me. I know you're not Keith, and you don't have to be. We have to grow together and adapt to changes. Just because we have a few issues now doesn't mean that won't change with some work. Have you discussed this with Keith at all?"

"Well…I mentioned it to him once when you first came back. I figured you would want Black back and he would want Red back, and Allura is a better match for Blue than I am. All he said was that it would work itself out. I guess this was his way of working it out…" Lance looked back at Keith's pod as Shiro let go of his shoulders.

"Look, you can't just force Keith to pilot Red again." Shiro sighed and set his hands on his hips now. He felt like he was back at the beginning, when he was telling Keith that he couldn't force Pidge to stay with the team. "He chose to leave the team and pursue other goals. He wanted to join the Blades of Marmora. He can't just pull him away from that and throw him back in Red. We have to make sure it's what he wants."

"Does that really look like the face of someone who's doing what he wants?" Lance's words had a bit of bite to them, but his gaze didn't budge from Keith's pod. Shiro matched his gaze and met Keith's tear streaked face. Isn't this what he had wanted…? To join the Blades and follow the quintessence supply line? Would he leave team Voltron for anything less than what he absolutely wanted?

"You're the closest one to him. Shouldn't you be the one to know whether he's lying or not? What if he really does want to stay a part of Voltron?" Lance seemed almost…accusatory? "You would be the one who could tell, wouldn't you?"

"I-" Shiro didn't get the chance to answer because the door slid open again, and Matt came into the room. He looked a little surprised to see all the company.

"Hey. Am I interrupting anything?" He hesitated at the door in case they needed him to go. "I just wanted to come see how Keith was doing. I've never seen these things in action."

"No, you're fine." Shiro gave him a half smile and he took that as the okay to come over. "He's already looking a lot better."

"Yeah, you're not kidding." Matt was amazed at just how much better he looked. This pod had already healed so much so quickly. It was really incredible. Altaen technology was mind blowing, just as Pidge had said. He took his place beside Shiro and gazed at the otherworldly tech in front of him in awe. But just like the other two, his eyes soon lingered on Keith's face and his smile faded.

There was a moment of silence as the three of them all mulled over their own thoughts. Matt was the first to speak. "Hey, I think you guys should know something."

His statement earned him both of their attention, and he rubbed the back of his neck a little nervously. "I'm not sure if Keith mentioned it or not but, Lotor kind of saved his life the other day."

"What? What do you mean?" Shiro knit his brows together as he stared at Matt questioningly. "When he broke through the barrier? He saved all of our lives."

"No, I mean, Keith specifically." Matt clarified with firmness in his voice. "He was going to fly his ship into the barrier to break through it. If Lotor had showed up even a second later than he did…Keith wouldn't be here."

His words elicited silence from the other two as both worry and upset washed over both of their faces. Matt lifted his gaze back to Keith. "I'm not saying that should have an impact on what we do with Lotor, and I don't know if it would affect Keith's choice. But what I'm really saying is, there's something going on in Keith's head that he needs to talk about to someone. I get that this is a war, and sacrifices will be made, but…he seemed to make the choice pretty quickly."

"Keith…" Shiro groaned, rubbing his temple. He'd always been reckless and jumping into trouble, but how could he even consider sacrificing himself? He would have left the team with a vital man down. Was he really okay with that? First he leaves Voltron to join the blades and go on countless risky missions and then he tries to fly himself into a barrier? What was going on?

"You know him best, Shiro." Lance looked up at him. "If he would have opened up to anyone it would have been you. What's going on?"

"He didn't say anything to me. He went off with the Blades of Marmora and he hasn't communicated much besides what's necessary for missions." Shiro's response was a sad one, but it seemed to be what Keith had wanted, so he hadn't been overly persistent about it.

"Come on, Shiro. You didn't notice anything?" Lance didn't accept his answer. "When you disappeared, Keith searched for you every single day. Even when everyone else thought you were dead, he was still out there looking for you. He never gave up on you. So when he leaves Voltron, you're just going to give up on him? You won't even try to talk him into coming back and tell him we need him? Are you mad at him for piloting Black?"

"What? No. No, I was never mad at him for that. I wanted him to pilot Black." Shiro retaliated. "This was all his decision. He didn't feel ready to lead Voltron. I can't force him to come back. He told us this is what he wanted."

"If he had died that day, would you be saying the same thing?" Lance's eyes bore into Shiro's. "Or would you be saying 'I wish we'd stopped him from leaving?'"

"Lance, we can't-"

"We have to at least try!" Lance snapped at him. "You keep saying we can't force people, but that's no excuse to keep quiet and not try! Maybe he wanted us to stop him. Maybe he wanted us to ask why he kept pushing us away, but we were so mad at him for doing it that we didn't care why he was doing it. We've been bad teammates, Shiro. We should have at least tried. If it were me leaving, I would have wanted you all to stop me."

Shiro couldn't seem to form an answer to him, because he knew that what he was saying was true. Maybe Keith had wanted them to stop him, but he had been so frustrated at the time with Keith neglecting the team, that he had… maybe he had been a little happy to see him go. It was a miserable thing to admit to himself and he felt guilt rise up in his throat at the very thought.

"I'm going to try talking to him when he wakes up tomorrow. Maybe it's a little late, but he's still alive, and I'm not going to wait around to regret it." Lance stuffed his hands in his pockets and headed for the door, but paused a moment. "You need to think about it too. Keith belongs as a part of Voltron, and if you really think that this is what Keith wants, then I'm not sure you really know him that well. Maybe you need to think about what Keith really means to you."