Lance gave a yawn from his seat and from the looks of the slumped over mice on the table, they were just as bored.

"Coran, will you just make a move already?" he said as he pointed to the board. "We've been waiting so long, I'm certain I've grown a beard."

Coran kept his hard gaze on his piece on the board as he shook a finger at Lance. "Don't rush me," he said. "You should never rush a master."

Oberon gave an amused chuckle as he leaned back in his chair. "Take your time, I've got all day."

Coran grasped his chin, and then snapped his fingers as he gave a bright smile. "Ha! Got you now!" He took his playing piece, moved it three spaces and knocked over Oberon's piece. "Aha! Take that!" Coran declared as he held up the piece. "I got your captain of the guards!"

Oberon gave a low whistle. "Ooh, that is good," he said approvingly as he lifted his piece. "Although, that move does allow my warrior to," he moved it four spaces, "capture your captain of the guard."

He knocked the piece over as Coran gave a horrified squeal.

"And your high priest," Oberon continued as moved two more spaces and causing Coran to moan as if he'd been stabbed.

"And finally," Oberon stated as he moved three spaces more and picked up the large purple piece, "your queen." He gave a grin as he tossed it up in the air and caught it. "Which means I win."

Coran groaned as Lance laughed as the mice clapped. "Wow, nicely done!

Coran rubbed his eyes. "I can't believe I lost."

Lance snickered as he patted Coran's shoulder. "Hey, you last longer than I did," he said as he shot Oberon a glare. "Although, I'm still not certain how you managed to predict my moves like that."

Oberon grinned. "I've spent a long time learning how to read people, Kiddo. It's the main part of being a spy."

"Yeah, I guess," Lance said as he put the pieces back on the board. "Up for another game?"

"Maybe," Oberon said as he handed the queen piece to one of the mice to put back, "but if I know Thace, he'll probably be coming in here asking what's been taking us so long."

Right on cue, the doors opened and both Keith and Thace walked into the room.

"There you are," Thace grumbled as the approached. "And, as expected, you completely forgot about us."

Lance blinked and tilted his head towards Oberon. "Whoa, you are good."

"What can I say, it's hard not to be the best," Oberon smirked.

Keith shot Lance a scowl as he tugged at his jacket sleeve. "Hey, whatever happened to meeting us up there?"

Lance scoffed. "Dude, relax, after Oberon made his call, we ended up touring a different part of the castle and decided we needed a game break."

"To which I came in," Coran replied as he pointed to the board, "and realized it had been a long time since I had a proper tubla game."

"And thus was how we ended up playing three games in a row," Oberon said as he leaned back. "I won them all by the way."

"Of course you did," Thace said as he crossed his arms and then paused. "Wait, three games against you? How?"

"The space mice played a round," Lance said as he pointed, "and scaringly came the closest to beating him."

The mice gave a thumbs up as Keith rolled his eyes. "Still doesn't quite explain how you just decided to ditch us."

Lance shrugged as pulled Keith in closer. "Look, I know you were forced into it, and if it sucked, I'm sorry." He raised an eyebrow. "But are you sincerely going to tell me you didn't reach to some kind of understanding?"

Keith opened and shut his mouth as he turned his gaze away. "No..we did actually."

Lance smirked at him. "And this is why you should always listen to my ideas."

"Yeah, yeah," Keith grumbled as he pulled up a seat. "I still feel like I need some payback."

Oberon stretched. "Well, how about you and Thace take over playing, while I go check and make certain Ford hadn't gotten into trouble."

Thace raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Ford getting into trouble?"

Oberon crossed his arms. "We're in a flying castle with ancient Altean technology. You can't tell me Ford wouldn't try to tinker with stuff if we left him alone too long."

Thace went silent and gave a nod. "Fair point," he said as he took a seat. "Tell him I'll have a chat with him later."

"Will do," Oberon said with a wave. "I'll see you lot at dinner."

Lance grinned as he leaned back. "Got to say, I really like that guy."

"You would," Keith muttered as he examined the game. "So..are we playing this or not?"

"Yes," Lance said as he pointed to Thace. "But let's do it as teams this time."

"And how do we do that?" Thace asked.

"Coran and me, vs you and Keith, clearly," Lance declared and titled his head. "You alright with that Coran?"

"Toss in the losers have to clean the cryo-pods and I'm in," Coran said as he took a seat next to him. "So, shall we start?"

Lance watched Keith, and half expected him to make an excuse like he had to go clean his room, but instead Keith gave a smirk.

"Alright, let's do that," he said and seemed to have no difficulty taking the seat next to his father. Lance also noted Thace seemed more relaxed than he had previously. He grinned to himself. Whatever had happened in the observatory it seemed to have done the trick.

Lance just hoped both of them were smart enough to stay on track for it.

0808080808080808080808080808080808080808080

Shiro flexed his fingers in pure delight as he walked down the hall. "Never thought I be so happy to hear silence," he muttered under his breath. "Really owe Ford for that one."

He paused at that. Shiro hadn't interacted much with Thace, although that was partly due to himself trying to avoid certain memories, but mostly he was still trying to process he was Keith's father.

However, Ford and Oberon flipped the table on the whole matter. If they were going to form an alliance with the rebels, Shiro was going to need to talk with them. Ford, for all of his grouchiness, was a good soldier. Shiro wasn't certain what he thought of Oberon though.

It was hard to imagine this cheery and rather cheeky Galran was also the person that apparently freed him from his imprisonment. Shiro had been debating directly asking him about it or to leave the matter alone.

Shiro could barely remember that horrible period in his life, and he didn't know if he wanted answers to the questions he had.

There was movement heard ahead, and Shiro halted as the person he had been pondering appeared.

"Oh, hey," Oberon greeted with a wave. "Do you know where Ford is? I just wanted to go and check on how the old fossil is doing."

"Um..he's chatting with Pidge and Hunk," Shiro said as he pointed the way. "He helped fixed my arm and I imagine they doing some tech talk exchange."

"Ah," Oberon said as he crossed his arms and proceeded to head back to where he came. "I better leave them alone them. That kind of conversation always goes over my head."

Shiro swallowed, pondering if he should just leave it be, but found his arm moving on it's own as he grabbed Oberon's arm.

"Wait," he said and caused Oberon to halt. "There's something I've been wanting to ask you."

Oberon paused and gave a smirk. "Oh, something the leader of Voltron wants to ask me?" He turned back towards him and grinned. "And what exactly is that?"

Shiro sighed as he straightened his composure before raising his gaze. "Leah mentioned that YOU were the one that freed me from Zarkon's prison."

Oberon's smile faltered slightly, but he still managed to give a forced smile, although his eyes narrowed. "Ah, that," he said as he crossed his arms. "Leah blabbed on me did she?"

"Yes," Shiro said in a firm tone, "and she mentioned that..you did it because you thought it was a challenge for you?"

Oberon was quiet as his eyes softened. Shiro was afraid he was going to tempt to ignore his question again, but Oberon's shoulders slumped and he gave a small sigh.

"Mind if we go somewhere private?" He gestured around him. "This isn't the kind of topic that should be discussed in a random hallway."

Shiro gave a nod. "Let's go to my room, it's not far from here," he said as he lead the way.

Neither of them said a word until they had entered the safety of Shiro's room with the door locked.

"Nice place," Oberon said as he leaned against the wall. "Couple of ornaments, a photo here and there, can make it real homey."

"Uh, thanks," Shiro said as he took a seat on the edge of the bed.

"Yeah, although granted this place is a lot more comfortable compared to some of the places I've been in," Oberon rambled. "There was this one place-"

"I don't mean to be rude," Shiro interjected as he took a deep breath, "but I rather get to the point." His gaze hardened. "I want to know why you decided to free me?"

Oberon shrugged. "Because I thought it would be a challenge," he said with a smirk.

Shiro frowned as his dropped his hands into his lap. "No offense, but I..can't believe that was your only reason. I know how heavily guarded I was." He gripped his arm. "How..much 'personal interest' Haggar had put into me and you're sincerely saying you decided to freed me because it was a 'challenge'?"

Oberon went silent and his body became more tense. His eyes looked tired and for the first time, Shiro thought he was catching a glimpse of true Oberon.

"Alright, serious talk," Oberon said as he folded his arms over his chest. "I wasn't lying when I admitted freeing you was part of a thrilling challenge for me. I'm weird like that, you can ask my mate if you want proof."

Oberon dropped an arm to his side and his fingers tapped against the wall. "With that said, Leah and I had discussed the matter before, and we were beginning to make plans it for it."

Shiro tilted his head. "You were?"

"Thace told us he knew there was a Blue Lion on Earth, and given that was where you were from, seemed reasonable you would go there," Oberon explained. "Especially given Zarkon and his cronies had recently figured that out for himself and there were rumors flying around like mad. Wouldn't surprise me if you heard one of them."

Shiro frowned and gave a slow nod. "Y-yeah, I think so," he said as he shut his eyes. "Heard some of the guards talking about it, and I knew if the Galra went to Earth looking for the lion-"

"It wouldn't have a chance," Oberon explained. "We rebels weren't able to retrieve the lion without exposing ourselves so sending you to retrieve it seemed like a safe gamble."

"And that's why you freed me?" Shiro asked.

Oberon opened and shut his mouth tight. "No. The plan Leah and I were making was much more sensible and would have ensured you got to Earth safely, but there wasn't time. I made the decision to get you out of there last minute." He gave a chuckle. "Didn't tell Leah about it until afterwards, and boy did she give me an earful."

"Wait, back up," Shiro asked as he raised a hand. "It was last minute?"

Oberon nodded and his eyes narrowed. "It was the result of my last visit to the area, and when I saw you in the ring I knew there wasn't much time left for you. If I didn't act then, you were going to be lost before we could act."

Shiro blinked in confusion. Lost? "What do you mean?"

"I go to the fighting ring a lot, it's one of the prime places to exchange information," Oberon explained as he raised a hand. "Thanks to that, I've watched a lot of champions come and go, including you."

Shiro flinched and lowered his gaze to the floor. "You..saw me fight?"

"Yes, many times," Oberon said softly as he pulled up a chair.

Shiro grimaced at that. If Oberon was there that meant he saw him as 'The Champion' and saw..things that Shiro would rather wish he could forget.

"You were an incredible fighter, no one expected such a small being to take on so many fighters and win." Oberon continued as he folded his hands into his lap. "However, that last fight I saw you in, I could tell from watching you that you were close to crossing that line."

Shiro frowned as he straightened his posture. "I'm sorry, I still don't understand."

Oberon sighed. "Frankly, it's hard to explain, but I've noticed all the previous champions reach this point where they almost break and just don't care anymore." He gave a slight shudder. "It's like they lost their minds completely and they become nothing more than a wild beast that only craves to survive and fight."

Shiro's frown tightened as he cybernetic hand tightened into a fist and he found himself recalling to the last champion before him. The large brute that didn't seem to care he was killing innocent prisoners. "Yeah, I think I know what you mean."

"Good," Oberon said as he pointed to Shiro. "Because, from watching you, I could tell you were not far from becoming that."

Shiro froze and stared on horrified. "What?"

"I doubt you realized it, but you were so exhausted and looked so done with it all," Oberon continued. "You were going to break soon and probably become the 'perfect champion' the empire had been craving for a long time."

Shiro swallowed as Haggar's words from their fight echoed.

You could have been our greatest weapon.

Shiro didn't remember, but had he been that close? He did recall caring less and less about the fighting. If he hadn't escaped, what would he had become? Would had he become a soldier of the empire that took so much from him? Would he had become just like Sendak?

"It didn't sit right with me," Oberon continued and broke Shiro free from his terrifying realizations. "Not one bit, especially since you were the most merciful champion I had ever seen."

Shiro's jaw dropped as he lifted his head. "Merciful? How..can you say that?" His hands shook. "I..don't remember a lot, but I KNOW the people I fought were mostly innocent slaves like me." He gripped his head. "And...every fight could only have one winner and I...they made me kill-"

"You made it quick," Oberon cut in gently.

Shiro felt a hand on his shoulder and gazed up to the sympathetic expression Oberon had.

"I know it doesn't sound like much," the Galran continued, "but the previous champions would always prolong the fight as much as they were able to entertain the audience."

He gave a bitter scowl. "Many would even torture them for their own pleasure, but not you." Oberon lowered his hands. "You always tried to make their deaths as quick and painless as possible, and I've been told by many escaped prisoners it was a small comfort to them."

Shiro shook his head and he gave a bitter scoff. "I can't see how that would be a comfort."

"When you're living a life that is devoid of hope, you take what small pieces of good you can find and cling it to them." He patted Shiro's shoulder. "But, you know this already."

Shiro gave nod as he swallowed a hard lump in his throat. "Yeah, I do."

There hadn't been much of that he could find during his imprisonment, but he recalled the odd smile and friendly touch his fellow slaves would offer him. There had been one alien that had always tried to make the others laugh with a joke before he was taken away to another camp. They were small gestures, and yet they somehow kept Shiro's spark of hope going that he would make it home.

Oberon gave Shiro a kind smile that he recalled giving Keith during the times he needed reassurance. "You're a good person, Shiro," he said. "Despite what they tried to make you into, you are a hero to a lot of people that needed it."

Shiro lifted his head and tried to offer a weary smile in return. He hadn't realized how much he had needed to hear that right now. "I still don't quite understand how you freed me."

Oberon scoffed. "I didn't do that much," he explained. "While you were fighting, I snuck in, stole a key and made certain it was hidden and waiting in your cell when you got back."

Shiro shut his eyes as the memory came to him. "I remember finding the key, but I never questioned why it was there."

"I didn't want you to," Oberon admitted. "After that, I just made certain there was a ship waiting for you with coordinates to your planet. You did the rest yourself."

"I suppose," Shiro said thoughtfully as memories of fighting and running frantically from the guards came back to him. "Still, it couldn't have been easy to get that key."

Oberon shrugged. "Wasn't the easiest, but wasn't the hardest either." He rubbed his neck. "Did take a few days for my muscles to recover from that, I'll admit that much."

Oberon then patted Shiro's back and then began to stretch his shoulders. "Well, enough melancholy, I should go check in on Ford," he stated as he rose.

Shiro watched him about to leave, but swiftly climbed to his feet. "Wait, Oberon, I..I just..I don't think I could ever thank you enough."

Oberon paused and kept his back to Shiro.

"If you hadn't taken a chance to free me," Shiro continued. "I wouldn't be standing here. We wouldn't even have Voltron..I..just don't know how I could pay you back."

Oberon was still, but he slightly turned his head to him. "You've met my kids, right? Tral and Xenia?"

Shiro blinked and gave a nod. "They're nice kids." He smiled. "Xenia is sweet, she even let me have one of her 'precious' paper cranes Lance made her."

Oberon nodded and gave a bittersweet smile. "If you, and the other paladins, can make the universe a safe place for them without the fear of Zarkon hanging over their heads, we'll call it even."

Shiro frowned, but his gaze hardened. "I promise, we'll do everything we can to make that happen."

Oberon gave a quiet nod and went to exit the room. Shiro was left alone as he dropped to his bed, feeling he somehow had gotten a small part of him back that he didn't know was missing.