Author's Note: So many Voltron lessons...that's the beauty of writing fanfiction. I love creating character backstories. Hold onto the seat of your pants, 'cuz this chapter is about to blow Keith away! I only own the characters I've created, and that's it.

Everyone wants to know why Keith hasn't said anything about Christiane being his sister. There are a few reasons for this. The biggest reason will be spelled out in this chapter. The second reason is because he can't answer any questions his teammates might ask him about her - he doesn't know anything about her! And the third reason is that he knows that Lance is going to torment him about how "your old roommate's closin' the deal with your SISTER!"

To Sally Mac - Poor Keith! He is the master of inner torment right now, and it doesn't look like it'll get any better anytime soon. I think he might need some of Sammy's absinthe, too. (Personally, I've never tried it, but my friend Scott swears by it.)

To Emie Mac - Don't worry about the reviews! I'm just grateful that you're reading. :D

To Wade Wells - Can I help it if I love Lotor on the side? ;) Because Christiane didn't fight him, he didn't feel the need to break her spirit, which is why he was gentle with her. She's a smart girl, that Little K. As for Keith not mentioning anything about Chris being his sister, well, that's all about to change in this chapter...

Title Song: "Whataya Want From Me" by Adam Lambert

He was back in Castle Control, having found it too difficult to wait in the hangar anymore. Romelle had not been to see him since kissing him good-bye; she was likely in their bedroom or perhaps in the nursery with Erik, brooding over the Space Marshal being the whore in the backless dress who spoke to her husband in Norwegian. So be it. Once this was all over, he would tell his wife everything, including the fact that he cheated on her. He knew she had her suspicions, yet they were still unconfirmed, and perhaps that was the reason it was taking so long for the two of them to move on.

What else could she expect from him?

"Sven! Is it true? Are you really leaving?"

He wasn't expecting it to be Emma, but there she was, standing behind him and looking terrified. She still had traces of eye make-up lingering from the wedding, which made her look even more tired and frightened. "Yes, Emma. I am. But don't worry, I'll be back."

She threw her arms around his neck and clung to him as though she might drown if she let go. "Please don't go," she whispered. "I just married into the Polluxian royalty, and I can't do this without your help."

Exhaling, Sven rubbed Emma's back to comfort her and calm her down. It was, he noted, not unlike trying to calm an infant. "Emma," he said soothingly, "do you remember how you promised me that you'd look after Erik if something happened to me? That you'd make sure nothing bad happened to him? I need you to be strong and do that for me now."

Her eyes widened. "But you're coming back, right?"

He nodded. "I will. But I don't know how long it will take, and I trust you to take care of my son while I'm gone."

"What about us, Sven? We're your family."

"I know that, Emma. But the Voltron Force is my family, too." He thought about Lenora's words to him in Norwegian. Hun er søsteren. The kidnapped girl was Keith's sister. If she didn't qualify as family, then who did? "And right now, my family is hurting. They need me."

Slowly, she nodded back at him. She accepted his explanation, but that didn't mean she had to like it. "Good luck, my brother. Come home safely." She hugged him tightly again and kissed the side of his face.

It was then that they both noticed the blinking lights on the control panel.

"The signal. The Space Marshal's got a lock on the kidnapped girl." Pressing a button, he downloaded the signal into the small Polluxian cruiser he had already chosen and readied for his trip. "I have to go now, Emma. But don't worry, I promise I'll be back."

"I'll go with you to the hangar."

She accompanied him down to the hangar, where his cruiser was ready to take off. Waving good-bye, she watched him start the engine and taxi out of the hangar and down the runway. When he built up speed and lifted up into the air, she choked on a sob.

Sven felt terrible about leaving Emma behind, especially since she was in such a state, but he had no other choice. Bringing up the coordinates that would lead him to Christiane, he paused. A hard knot of dread formed in his stomach - being a navigator, he knew the coordinates off the top of his head. And having been infected with Haggarium, he knew the terrain better than he cared to admit.

The girl was on Crydor.

Pidge was at Castle Control when the Space Marshal sent the signal with coordinates. "Keith! We've got the coordinates from Len. I'm downloading them to Green right now."

"Cool! We can take off now!" Daniel announced to the entire team. No one had left Castle Control since returning to the castle. "Let's go!"

Keith shook his head with a dark look on his face. "No way, cadets. The three of you stay here. This mission is far too important to bring you along."

Larmina's mouth dropped open. She tried to make a sound in protest, but he preemptively cut her off. "No arguments. Cadets stay here."

"We'd better do as he says," Vince acquiesced. Then, more loudly, he said to Allura, "I just ask that somebody keep us updated periodically."

"We can do that, Vince," the princess replied, worried about Keith's mental stability. As they headed for the elevators to get to the lions, she placed her hand gently on her boyfriend's arm. "Keith? Are you sure you're okay for this mission?"

He glared back at her. "Why wouldn't I be?" he snapped.

She recoiled from his verbal blow. "Because," she responded, a trace of anger slipping into her voice, "you are not acting like yourself, and you won't tell us who this Christiane is. If you told us why she was so important to you, then maybe -"

"Then maybe you'd hold it against me." He didn't budge on his stance. "You'll find out when you find out, Allura. And you'll all find out at the same time. Now, I'd suggest that everybody get to their lions so we can take off. Go Lions!"

As the Voltron Force took off down the elevator, the three cadets looked at each other. "Man," Larmina mused, "today he's really earning the name Crankypants."

Vince sighed. "You can say that again."

As the three Albegas mecha darted through space, the only thing that kept them on course was Morgan's superior navigational skills. She charted their movement through space so efficiently that it seemed like they were closing the distance to Crydor in no time.

"You know, Feld," Aidan mused from his cockpit, "you really are one heck of a navigator. The rumors that you're the best navigator in the recent history of the Alliance and the Space Academy really are true."

"Thanks, but flattery will get you nowhere with me, Cap," she retorted. "I'm doing this so I can get my girl back."

"Yeah...about that." Aidan exhaled. "You do realize that Len contacted both Voltrons, right? The Vehicle Team and the Lion Force are both coming out to help. Dude, Feld, that means you've gotta put aside your personal issues and make nice with Captain Kogane of the Voltron Force."

Morgan scowled. "What, you think I can't do that for my girl Chris?" Then, in a quieter voice, she continued, "Besides, it's not like I hate Keith or anything."

Aidan smirked. "Really? I distinctly remember hearing you tell him how much you hated him during your last break-up."

Seated in the pilot's chair in front of her, she heard her husband suppress a laugh. "Shut up, both of you," she fumed with a hint of amusement in her voice. "And just so you know, anything a woman tells a man in the midst of a nasty break-up shouldn't be taken too seriously."

"Oof. Is that how you knew Rackens was the man you were gonna marry, then? Because you started dating him and didn't actually break up?"

"Come to think of it, yeah. He was a lot more stable than my previous boyfriend."

"Seven hells," David grumbled. "Could the two of you please stop talking about me like I'm not here?"

From the red mecha, Taye laughed. It felt better to laugh. He turned his head to glance at the empty seat behind him - Christiane's seat. Don't worry, Chris, we're comin' to get you. We're gonna get you back.

By the time Commander Hawkins made it back to the bridge, Sparks had already downloaded Christiane's signal and was beginning to chart the Explorer in that direction. Though he was not a navigator, he knew enough to set a course and follow it.

"Excellent. I'll have the team in their mecha, ready for take-off," Hawkins told the bridge crew. Opening up the channels for the announcement system, he spoke gravely. "Attention Voltron Force: We have a signal on Tech Sargeant Kogane. All units to report to the hangar to await further instruction."

Ginger placed her hand reassuringly on Jeff's shoulder. "We found her, Jeff. We're gonna get her back."

Jeff nodded quietly. He felt the first flash of hope shoot through his system. Maybe, just maybe, they would get her back alive.

As the fifteen Voltron pilots dashed to the hangar, the captain could hardly concentrate. The only thing he could think about was his girlfriend. He could see her shining turquoise eyes and her wavy blue-black hair in his mind. Pressing his lips together, he decided that he didn't give a care in seven hells about what she had said to him about marriage only a few days earlier. Once they got her back, he was going to marry her, and he didn't care about what argument she gave him to the contrary. He was never going to lose her again.

Once they were all established in their mecha, Rocky paged Jeff. "Hey Cap, you holdin' up in there?"

"Yeah, I'm holding up, Rocky."

Chip spoke up as well. "You know we're gonna get her back, right? Us fellow tech sargeants, we all stick together."

Jeff smiled despite the situation. He forgot that Chip was a systems analyst as well, one that graduated in their same class along with Lenora and his twin brother Pidge. He always forgot because Chip hadn't lived on their floor - he and Rocky had roomed together in a separate dorm. "I know you won't let her down, Chip."

Cliff then contacted him. "Are you okay to fly with that absinthe in your system, Mate?"

"Yeah, I'm doing alright, I guess. But remind me to never touch that stuff again. It's nasty."

"Hey, you can't say I didn't warn you."

"No, Cliff. You did."

He then shut off the communication channels entirely. As much as he appreciated his teammates' concerns and well-wishes, right now he wanted to be alone with his thoughts in the quiet of his mecha. He wanted to focus on Christiane so that he would be ready when Commander Hawkins gave them the signal to take off. And then, maybe, he would get her back.

Keith hadn't said much on the trip to Crydor. He couldn't believe the situation. How in seven hells had his sister been kidnapped by Lotor and Wade, but then ended up on Crydor, the same planet Sven had lived on before being treated for his Haggarium infection? What were the odds? If he were still living on Earth, he would have bought lottery tickets.

"Crankypants is still being quiet."

"Lance, I will kill you without a second thought if you don't shut up."

Allura sighed over the open channel. As much as she wanted to side with Keith, she could not. "Keith, if you would only tell us -"

"I said no."

She gritted her teeth together. "Fine."

Keith didn't know what they wanted out of him. He couldn't tell them who Christiane was. He couldn't admit to her being his sister. He wanted to, but the words would not escape his lips.

Admitting out loud that the situation was dire - and that it was about his sister - would drive the point home through his skull. It would make the situation real. And then, he knew, he would break down over it, the same way he broke down twenty years ago when his parents died and the state took Christiane away from him. How could he lead his team through a successful rescue operation if he was a broken man?

Worse, the guilt was eating away at him. He was truly the worst older brother in the universe, starting from that day at the Academy when he turned his back on her. She loved him and she came to the Academy to find him, and he turned his back on her. He couldn't face the hurt that came with her, and found it easier to walk away. That day, he had only told Jeff and Morgan about her, and he never uttered another word about Christiane Kogane being his sister again. Now she had been kidnapped by two of her brother's sworn enemies, and where was he at the time? He was off on Pollux, celebrating the marriage of his girlfriend's cousin. While Christiane was being tortured, he was making love to his girlfriend, tangled with her lovingly in the exquisite silk-satin sheets of their guest room.

It almost, almost made him angry with Allura. Then he remembered that this was the way it had always been with Morgan, and he had sworn to himself that he would not repeat that experience with Allura. He would not. He would have to work through this without placing the blame on his girlfriend. It didn't matter how painful it got. He had to work through his intimacy issues.

Allura deserved better, and she was not Morgan.

"Uh, Chief?" Pidge's voice startled him out of his thoughts.

"Pidge. What is it?"

"Now, I'm no navigator, but as a systems analyst, I think you might like to know that we have three unidentified - I guess they're mecha - headed towards us. Anything you'd like to do about it before we begin an all-out attack?"

Keith, in his Black Lion, stared at the three oncoming ships. Yes, they were definitely mecha: one red, one black, and one blue. He didn't get a feeling in his gut that would suggest they were fighting for the opposite side, so he decided to hail them. "Attention, ships. We mean you no harm. This is Captain Keith Kogane of the Voltron Force."

All of the channels between the lions were open so that his teammates would be able to hear the response. They just didn't expect to hear the hysterical peals of laughter that they got in return from the main mecha.

"Nah, you don't say, huh."

Lance's jaw dropped open in shock. "I don't believe this. That sounds like -"

"Keith Kogane, you don't need to introduce yourself. This is Captain Aidan Dalloway of the Galactic Alliance's Albegas Team."

"I knew it!" Lance screeched. "Dalloway, you jerk, how are you?"

"I'll be a lot better when we get our systems analyst back, McClain."

"Aidan," Keith ventured, "thank you for coming. But how did you get out here so fast? Crydor isn't too far from Arus, but it's a heck of a lot farther than Earth is. You guys made really good time."

Over the intercom channels, Aidan flashed Keith a dazzling smile. "Well, Kogane, in case you didn't know, Albegas has the best navigator in the Alliance."

Keith coughed. "Then she's who I'd like to speak with."

"Huh?"

"Put your navigator on, Dalloway."

Aidan sighed. "Oh, boy...Blue Mecha, you're up." He held his breath, as did Hunk, Lance, and Pidge. David looked amused, wondering where this conversation could possibly be headed. It couldn't be going anywhere good.

Stunned, Morgan cleared her throat. She couldn't use the visuals; she just didn't have her heart in it. "Keith?" she spoke gently into the communicator.

Whatever it was, hearing his old girlfriend's voice broke him. "Morgan," he murmured, his resolve weakening. Tears sprang to his eyes, and his throat closed in on his voice. The fact that she was there, looking for his sister and, unbeknownst to her, supporting him at the same time...it broke him. "Oh, Morgan."

"Keith! Keith, stop it! We're gonna get her back! We're gonna get your sister back!"

For a long while after her statement, the last sounds heard over the communication channels were the gasps from the four other Voltron Force members.