Author's Note: Why can't Hunk be a romantic hero? Lance, Keith and Sven shouldn't have all the fun. (PS: I have romantic plans for Pidge, but they aren't in this book.)

I must give thanks to Angeline Winery for creating the pinot noir I drank while writing the Sven/Aidan scene. Wow, did I need it!

To Sally On - I knew it was you all along! And wouldn't it figure that Lance would send the boys somewhere with girlie drinks? Must be jealous.

To Emie Mac - I love it when Hawkins steps up to the plate. See? He knew we wanted a wedding and he got it for us. Gotta love the man.

To bknbu - I wrote the Len/Angelie scene a couple of months back on the anniversary of my grandfather's death. Between him being gone and my father-in-law having recently passed away, it just came pouring out. And get that Shannon story out there! I love Vehicle Voltron fics.

Title Song: "Yellow" by Coldplay

After dinner, Hunk went down to the hangar, where Yellow Lion needed to be checked after spending so much time in sub-zero conditions. He was reeling from the events that had occurred over the last couple of days, and he needed to spend some time alone to clear his head. There was no better place to do that than in the presence of Yellow.

He was confused. That was the only way he could describe it. Well, maybe stunned and confused. It was good to see Chip again, and of course it was great to see Rocky, too. He had missed his old friends.

Cinda was quite another matter.

Back in the day, he and Cinda had been inseparable. They had both specialized in engineering at the Academy, and back in those days, they had been the engineering duo to beat. Hunk-and-Cinda. He had even escorted her to the dance on Senior Night, and she looked beautiful in that short, strapless ice-blue dress she wore.

Wow. If I can remember what she wore on Senior Night, I must've liked her more than I thought.

Cinda was not from Earth. She, much like Crik, was from the water planet Mira, which meant that her skin was blue and she had a body made for swimming. And, for that matter, showing off a bathing suit. Back at the Academy, he vaguely appreciated her figure. Now, though, she looked better than he remembered, and it was bothering him that she hadn't said much to him.

Maybe she didn't like me as anything better than her engineering study buddy.

He exhaled, looking over his Lion. Yellow and Red Lions were the least suited for Crydor, and it showed. He would have to get to work. In a way, he was glad that Chip was there to keep Pidge preoccupied. Hunk wanted to get to work with only his thoughts to keep him company.

"Need a hand?"

Well, there went that. Looking up towards the door, he noticed Cinda leaning over the railing, gazing down at him. "Well? You need a hand, Tsuyo?"

He couldn't keep the grin off his face. "Nah, I don't need a hand...but that doesn't mean I don't want a hand, Cin. Come on down."

With a sweet smile on her face, Cinda descended down the metal steps into the depths of the hangar. "Wow. Look at this!" she exclaimed, gazing up at Yellow Lion like a little kid on Christmas morning. That was the thing Hunk had loved the most about her; Cinda always seemed to be excited by the very same things that excited him. "My Rotating Personnel Carrier's got nothing on this!"

"Yeah, Yellow is pretty cool." He grinned at her stupidly. "Wanna check it out?"

"I'd love to."

Hunk held his breath as he helped Cinda into the cockpit. "Oh, this is amazing," she nearly purred, which he found apt for being inside a Lion. "These things are special. The parts that form Vehicle Voltron are mechanical, but these things...they're like magic."

"Yeah." He chuckled. "We figured out a while back that they're made of some kind of mystical memory metal. Cool, right?"

"Extremely." Stealthily, she placed a hand on his shoulder, and Hunk realized that maybe there still might be a spark or two left between them. In response, without looking at her, he placed one hand around her waist. "I missed you, Cin. I haven't had anybody awesome like you to do engineering with in a long time." He kept his eyes and his face straight ahead.

"I missed you too, Hunk." She laid her head against his shoulder.

It was a nice moment, and one that had been a long time coming. They remained in silence, just trying to enjoy themselves and make up for lost time before they were interrupted. Because they both knew they would be interrupted. Eventually.

The night sky was beginning to darken, which suited Shannon's mood perfectly. He sat out on the main balcony overlooking Lake Arus - being on the Sea Team, he felt a connection to the water. He was mad, both at the universe and at himself.

For as long as he could remember, he'd had a crush on Ginger. Sure, he hadn't always been nice to her, but wasn't that the way adolescent boys treated the girls they liked? Not that he was an adolescent, of course; he and David Rackens had been in the same class year, along with Wolo, Hutch, and Modoch, which put them all at thirty-four years old. He was too old to be acting like a boy.

They'd all been on the Voltron Force for ten years, minus the time they'd been grounded by Wade. He didn't know why he'd never acted on his crush, it wasn't like the entire team didn't know about it. Even Ginger herself eventually found out and occasionally used the information to her advantage.

I called her Cupcake.

"Shannon? Are you all right?"

He had been sulking with his eyes fixed on the ground, and when he heard the voice, he looked up. Lisa. Of course it would be Lisa; she was the most sympathetic person on the team, as well as his teammate on the Sea Team. He didn't answer, he just stared at her with his forlorn eyes. She came over to him and sat down next to him. "You okay?"

"Where's Aidan tonight? I thought you'd be with your boyfriend."

One side of her mouth curled up into a smile. "He went out with Sven for a while," she answered. "I guess he wanted to talk to the Viking."

"About what?"

Lisa shook her head. "Commander Hawkins' wife, I assume."

"Huh. Well, there's a soap opera for you. Both of them pinin' away over a married woman. It's so silly when you consider that they both have significant others."

"Tell me about it." Lisa patted Shannon's back soothingly. "So, I take it you're out here to sulk about Ginger and Lance?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Is it that obvious, Lisa?" he asked in his thick brogue. "I wish I'd said something all those years ago. It could be me in bed with her right now instead of Lance McClain."

Thinking back to Senior Night, Lisa grinned. "I don't know about that, Shannon. She and Lance have had a...relationship...since they were sixteen. Half their lives, if you think about it."

"Yes, but she hadn't seen him in how many years?" Anger burned in the Irishman's dark eyes. "Come on, Lisa, I've spent much more time with Ginger than he has! And because I couldn't get up the nerve to tell her how I felt, I'm sitting here talking to you instead of spending time with her!"

Lisa sighed. "And my ex-boyfriend just announced tonight that he's getting married to a girl he's dated for less than a year. Imagine how that makes me feel. I dated Jeff for how many years?"

"Too many."

"And he never saw himself married to me."

Shannon shot her a miserable grin. "Well then, I guess I'm not the only one hurtin' out here on this balcony tonight." He wrapped an arm around her, and she placed her head comfortingly on his shoulder. They were two wounded souls sharing their sorrows together. "Just so you know, Lis, no matter what I might have said to you in the past, I'd bleed myself dry for you, girl. I hope that this Dalloway character knows how good he's got it with you."

She nodded into his shoulder in agreement.

Sven stared across the banquette at Aidan, wild-eyed and furious, even angrier than when he'd found out that his elskede had married Commander Hawkins. He thanked every available god for Pidge and Vince, who'd worked on the treatment for his Haggarium infection; otherwise the Albegas captain would have been dead ten seconds ago.

"Sven, say something."

"Before you continue, I need another drink."

Aidan's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "But you've hardly touched your Blue Lion cocktail..." His voice trailed off as the Norwegian slugged back the rest of the girlie blue drink. "Uh, never mind." He lifted his arm and flagged the waitress down. "My friend here needs another drink."

"Certainly," she replied pleasantly. "Mr. Halix wanted me to let you to know that anything you want to drink is on the house, so please, don't be shy. Anything you would prefer?" She smiled politely at the former Blue Lion pilot.

"Vodka tonic, thank you. With the most potent vodka you have. And make it a double."

"Will do, Sir."

As Aidan opened his mouth to speak, Sven lifted his hand. "No. You will not say one more word until I have finished my second drink. Only when you see me start on my third drink can you open your mouth." He glared at the blond man. "You were right, Dalloway. I am going to find what you have to say fascinating."

Aidan attempted to defend himself, but the Norwegian cut him off again. "I mean it, Dalloway. Not one blasted word." He rolled his eyes. "Really. Telling me that you dated my fiancée? We were still engaged! You were really low enough to sleep with another man's woman?"

The Albegas captain narrowed his sapphire eyes, but said nothing. They sat there in silence, glaring across the table at each other, until the waitress returned with two vodka tonics. Sven knew that it was Arusian vodka and not Ciroc, but at the moment, he didn't particularly care. Immediately, he slugged one back, hardly tasting it. He set the empty glass back down on the table and picked up the second glass. Once he'd taken his first sip, he grumbled, "Now you may speak."

"Dude. You need to calm down." Aidan took a sip of his blue cocktail, forgetting how frilly and girlie it was. "You don't know anything. And you're so quick to claim Len as your fiancée, but you weren't there. You don't know the hells that poor girl went through without you. You have no idea of how much pain she suffered with you gone."

Sven took another swallow of his drink. By now, the first two drinks were beginning to hit him, and his limbs felt warm and a little numb. "Do you think I wanted to hurt her, Aidan? Do you think I wanted the pain and torture that befell me? If I had been able to contact her, I would have. If I had been able to let her know where I was, I would have. I loved her. I still love her!"

The blond man rubbed his eyes. "Oh, good God, Viking. I didn't actively pursue her. I knew she was engaged to you. I mean, gods, she wore your ring around her neck the entire time we dated." He took a long sip of his drink. "She came on to me."

"I find that hard to believe." He knocked back a good amount of his vodka tonic.

"Yeah, maybe." He pursed his lips. "But you weren't there, you wouldn't know. You weren't there the night her mother died."

Sven gasped. He felt like Aidan had physically struck him across the face. "What? Angelie's dead?"

Aidan shrugged. "She died six years ago. Stage-four colon cancer."

"Å, herregud."

"Morgan and David had just gotten engaged. We were all at their engagement party - except Lenora, of course. She was at Lenox Hill with her mother." He paused, looking sad at the memory. "I guess she called David with the news that her mother had passed, and he came to find me. He told me not to tell anyone, and since I was the only one who could drive, I should pick her up from the hospital. He would've done it, but it would've looked suspicious if he'd left his own engagement party, and Len left specific instructions for him not to tell Morgan until after the party."

Sven shook his head, partially from shock, partially from sadness. He'd always liked Angelie - he couldn't believe that the woman was gone.

"I waited for her outside the hospital. It was so freakin' cold out, I'll never forget that. And she walked outside and she looked so lost and distraught - I'll never forget that, either. I couldn't help it, I hugged her and took her back to her studio in the Valley."

"The Valley?"

"Yeah. It's the term we use for the Garrison's just-off-campus housing for graduates." He took another long sip of his Blue Lion cocktail, nearly finishing it off. "So once we got there, she starting knocking back vodka shots. She was so sad and she needed to get drunk, so I did a couple with her. I also gave her one of my cornicellos - the silver one." He grinned. "She wore that cornicello with her mom's cross and your ring right up until she married Hawkins. I loved that about her. It was one of the many things I loved about her."

"If you don't stop telling me that you loved her, I'm going to break your face."

"Easy, Viking." He finished off his Blue Lion cocktail, and flagged the waitress over. "I'm looking for the equivalent of a good blended scotch," he told her. "Any suggestions?"

She smiled flirtatiously at him, batting her eyelashes as did. "I'll see what Mr. Halix can come up with. I'll be right back."

As she scurried over to the bar, Aidan shrugged. "It's the long blond hair. Chicks dig it."

"Oh? Is that how you got Lisa?"

"Hey, leave my girlfriend out of this." He glanced over at the waitress as she returned with a large flat-bottomed tumbler filled with thick amber liquid. "Thank you, Doll."

"You're welcome," she giggled.

Aidan took a swig of the scotch. "Hey, not bad."

Sven glared at him. "Could we get back to your story?"

"Geez, keep your hat on, Holgersson. In any case, after we'd downed a few shots of cheap vodka, she kissed me. Hard. I guess all her emotions came pouring out." He winked. "We ended up closing the deal in her bed. She told me afterward that it was the first time she'd slept with anyone since you."

The Norwegian clutched his glass, trying not to break it as he brought it to his lips. He hated how smug the blond man looked as he remembered his time as Lenora's boyfriend. "You'd better hope that I'm too drunk to beat you up when we leave, Dalloway, because I'd really like to do that right now."

"Now you know how I feel every time I look at Hawkins."

Huh? Now this was getting interesting. "He's another one I'd like to beat up."

"Not half as much as I would," Aidan scoffed, his sapphire eyes darkening. "He ruined everything between me and Len. I swear that he told her to break up with me when he put her into hiding. The guy freakin' had it in for me. And then, when Len finally came home, I was so excited to see her. I wanted to know if..." His voice trailed off.

Surprisingly, Sven found himself feeling bad for him. He understood where the guy was coming from. "You wanted to know what?"

Aidan toyed with his glass. "I wanted to know if she still had feelings for me, 'cuz God knows I still had feelings for her. It didn't matter how many girls I dated or closed the deal with while she was in hiding, I really only wanted her. I know this sounds terrible, but Lisa and I weren't serious then, and if Len had wanted me..." He shook his head without finishing the thought. "And then she came back to the Garrison as Space Marshal, wearing that huge frickin' rock that Hawkins put on her finger."

"So she broke up with you when she went into hiding, and was engaged to Hawkins when she came out of hiding." Sven hid a laugh. "I hate to say it serves you right, but it does."

"You know, I like you about as much as I like him right now."

"Well, what does it matter?" Sven finished his second vodka tonic and was sorely tempted tempted to order another. "Neither one of us is married to her."

"Yeah. Stinks to be us." Aidan made a face before he took another sip of his scotch. "That was why I wanted to talk - I was hoping you could tell me the magic trick for getting over her. But since you're not over her either, then this whole night has been a waste."

"Not necessarily. We got away from the castle and we got to drink. I suppose I'll order another."

"Oh, you're gonna be so hungover tomorrow."

Sven smirked. "You've got nothing to say, Dalloway. That Arusian scotch is even more potent than what they put in the Blue Lion drink."

"Then we'll both be hungover together." He sipped more of his scotch, feeling the liquid burn on the way down. He had a feeling that making it back to the castle was going to prove difficult...and interesting. "By the way, Viking, just out of curiosity: would you have left your wife for her?"

Sven hesitated before answering. "I almost did."

"Seven hells." Aidan took another sip of scotch, noting that he'd plowed through nearly the entire tumbler. "You know, I heard Hawkins tell you to come back to New York for a proper reward for rescuing Chris. I say, take him up on his offer. And seduce his wife at the same time. It would serve the jerk right." He smirked. "Do it for me."

The Norwegian flagged the waitress over for another vodka tonic for himself and another scotch for Aidan. He liked the idea as much as Aidan did. As he waited for his new drink - his fourth of the evening - he wondered how good it would feel to wipe that self-satisfied look off Hawkins' face.

Keith hesitated before he knocked on her door.

He knew he'd blown it with her. He knew he was in trouble, and he deserved to be. His behavior for the last few days had been abhorrent and inexcusable, and Allura certainly had no reason to let him into her personal quarters tonight. But he wanted to speak with her privately. Now that the kidnapping ordeal was over, his sister was safe, and he was beginning to deal with the skeletons from his past, he felt the need to explain his side of the story.

He wasn't blameless. But the Voltron captain wanted her to know what had been running through his head. He had not been in a good place, but he was beginning to come out of it. He was beginning to rebuild bridges towards the people he'd hurt.

When he finally knocked, she answered, fully dressed in her long formal nightgown and matching robe, white with yellow trim. She looked every bit as regal as she was. "Allura?"

"Keith. What is it?" she asked, almost curtly.

"I was wondering if I could come in. So we could talk."

"Hmm. I'm not much in the mood for talking right now, Keith. The last few days have been long and trying."

"I know, and I'm sorry. That's why I wanted to talk. I wanted to explain my side of things."

She nodded. "There will be time for that later, after all of our visitors have left. As for right now, I need to sleep, and I'll sleep better alone." She shot him a pointed look. "Good night, Keith."

And she shut the door in his face.