Summary:

Lance is all on board, until the girls decided to gang up on Keith, then all bets are off. He wants to be a paladin, but between trying to keep his planet from being destroyed by his crazy future father in law, and keeping these crazy judgmental girls from tearing his future mate apart, he's having a hard time making a decision.

The choice seems obvious to Keith.

Notes:

Holly hell. I knew that this chapter was going to be longer, but seriously, this got a way from me a bit. So much needed to happen and it definitely did. This is nearly double the regular length of the other chapters. And so much drama too. Poor Keith, this day is just not his day. First he fears for Lance's life and now he has to deal with all this bullshit? Nah uh, he just wants to go home, and cuddle with Lance until all of his stress goes away.

Lance was still shaking when the lions landed. Sure, he had wanted some adventure before he had to take over his father's crown, he had even wanted to fly his own ship, but not like this! This was not what he signed up for when he had gone to inspect the blue lion. Getting kidnapped from his planet, and flown through a wormhole to who-knew-where, was not his idea of a good time, thank you very much. He hadn't even noticed Allura when he tried to scramble to his feet. All he knew was Blue had put her head down and that she was telling him that she would let him out now. He needed Keith. This was so far out of his comfort zone that if he didn't find something familiar soon he wasn't sure what he would do. Lance took off in a mad dash out of the blue lion's mouth, down the small ramp, and straight over to Red, completely ignoring the small group of people gathering around the frightening beasts.

"Keith! Open up!" He shouted desperately, pounding on the red lion's chin, his hair was a mess from slouching in his chair in Blue and his eyes were blown wide and wild. It didn't take long for Red to open her mouth and let Lance dash inside and practically throw himself at his soon to be mate. He nuzzled his face into the juncture between Keith's neck and shoulder and held him tight around the neck as if his life depended on how tight he could cling to the Galra prince. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to get us kidnapped! I'm sorry I thought you were being paranoid when you kept telling me I should be more careful! I don't know where we are, how are we going to get back, what are we going to do when our parents find out we're gone?! Will they even believe the story that we were taken by giant mechanical lions?!" He was talking a mile a minute and Keith could only hug him back just as tightly. He knew Lance had been okay when he saw the other over the comms, but holding him in his arms now was doing wonders for his own frayed nerves. He made a point to take a few deep breaths before he tried to calm down the erratic mess that was Lance at the moment. He carded one hand through Lance's hair and let the other rub gently up and down the other prince's back.

"It's okay, we're together, and we're both still alive so I'm sure whatever is going on, we can handle it." He had wanted to run to Lance's side as soon as they landed as well, but the small group forming below them had given him reason to pause. He did not know if they were friend or foe, and the Galra had a lot of foes. If the woman was telling the truth about being Altean then he really didn't think she'd like him all that much.

"We couldn't even handle landing those lions back on the ground before they took off!"

"Yes, well, now we have landed, and there are people out there waiting for us to come out."

"Huh?" Lance lifted his head from Keith's shoulder to look out Red's view screen to see a group of five very confused looking beings.

"The woman with white hair said she was Altean."

"That's impossible."

"Regardless of if she's telling the truth or not, I doubt she's going to be too thrilled to see me."

"Especially if she finds out who you are."

"Then we should keep our titles to ourselves for the time being. We don't know why we were brought here and so we should keep cautious."

"How are you handling this so well?" Lance pouted, turning his attention once more back to Keith.

"Well if we both are panicking, who knows what might happen." Keith smirked, kissing Lance on the forehead tenderly. Keith turned his attention to the control panel next to him when he felt Red rumble in his mind again, she was telling him to press an intercom button. That would probably be a good start. Reaching out he pressed the instructed buttons and pulled Lance with himself closer to the dash so he could operate it a little better.

"Princess Allura, I believe you said it was, it's nice to meet you, but where exactly are we?" Keith asked, his voice echoing slightly off the walls of the large hanger. She seemed to smile up at the red lion, clasping her hands together at her chest as she nodded.

"I am, and you are docked in the Red lion's hanger in the Castle of Lions, my ship." She answered simply.

"Yeah, but, where are we?" Lance asked weakly. Despite what he liked to think, he was not good when suddenly whisked away from his home to unknown places.

"Currently, we are on Arus."

"Arus?! How did we get all the way out there?!" Lance was starting to freak out again. "That's so far away! No one is going to look all the way out here for us!"

"Lance, calm down." Keith softly stroked at Lance's gills with the pads of his thumbs, a trick he had picked up that seemed to help the other boy calm down faster when he was stuck too deep in his own head. "Everything will be okay." He spoke calm and steady, coaxing him into slowing his breathing back down, their words broadcasted still through the hanger.

"It sounds as though you two are quite close, I am glad. That will make bonding easier." Allura smiled.

"Bonding?" Keith echoed, slightly confused, but he kept the bulk of his attention still on Lance, not wanting him to hurt himself in his panic.

"Yes, if you are to be Paladins of Voltron you will have to bond with your fellow teammates and your respective lions."

"Excuse me, Princess, um," Lance seemed to be doing better, though his voice still shook slightly as he addressed the figurehead of the group. "No disrespect, but, what are you talking about? We are not paladins of anything, let alone a myth like Voltron."

"The lions showed it to you, did they not?"

"Well yes, but Voltron hasn't been seen for ten thousand periods, obviously it's just a legend."

"You are standing inside a giant sentient robot lion, and you still do not believe?"

"Look, all I am saying is that this is a hard pill to swallow." Lance argued back.

"Princess, I do not think we have the full picture here. Yes, these lions showed us Voltron, and this ship, and you, fighting a Galra battle cruiser, but that is all they told us. We were brought here against our will, kidnapped from the waters of the Prata Neptunian sea, only to find out we are lightyears from any sort of safe place that we know."

"Ah! It's been ages since I've seen a Prata Neptunian! Wonderful people those guys!" cried a man with vibrant orange hair, standing just behind Allura. "It makes sense that Blue would pick someone from your planet, but Red doing so as well, that is a bit strange."

"I am not Prata Neptunian." Keith answered curtly. He really didn't want to reveal himself as Galra just yet, but he could at least admit to what he was not.

"Then what are you and what were you doing there?" the same man asked, he didn't sound like he was trying to interrogate Keith, rather he simply sounded curious.

"Um, what's Prata Neptunia?" the large boy next to him voiced quietly.

"It is a planet almost completely covered in water! The people there are something else too!"

"Coran, please calm down, we don't wish to scare them off." Allura smiled warmly then turned back to them. "Paladins, please, come down so we can meet you properly." She held such hope in her voice. "It will be easier to discuss exactly what our goal is if we were face to face."

"And it would be easier to trust you lot if we knew your goal before we came out." Keith offered back. Lance took a deep breath as he finally seemed to come back to his senses fully. Keith still kept his grip firmly around his waist though, just in case. Allura nodded but before she could speak up, the smallest of the group stepped forward;

"We're gonna kick Zarkon's ass, now are you helping or not?" Keith felt Lance tense up in his arms once more and he couldn't help but feel the same tension in his own body. That wasn't something they could do.

"Your aim is the destruction of the Galra Empire?" He whispered, shocked. He hadn't even noticed the words had actually left his mouth until he heard the little green one confirm it. "That is impossible. Zarkon has been in power for far too long, and the Galra have their roots just as deep in some planets as their claws are in others." He fired back, his voice stronger this time. "You can not honestly expect to win."

"We can and we will. We have to." Allura's voice left little room for argument, but Keith was argumentative by nature, and pushed on.

"Then you will have to find someone else to help you."

" … Do you really think you can do it?" Lance's voice wasn't very loud and he was standing farther away from the mic, but the words rang out still. Keith looked to Lance in mild confusion.

"Lance. We can not help them. Even if they could win, and that is a big if, think about it. You would be risking too much."

"I want to help though. I want him off the throne, a man like him can not stay in power."

"That is not our decision to make. Galra and Prata Neptunia have peace, you would throw that away for something that is not even guaranteed to work? Your planet will be destroyed, your people slaughtered, there is no winning. If you play by his rules he will keep his promise not to hurt you."

"I was not aware there were any planets at peace with the Galra Empire." Allura announced.

"I didn't know the Galra Empire even knew what peace was." The man next to her added sarcastically, and it was only then that Keith actually looked at him. His eyes widened. The Champion. Now he knew they couldn't go out there. The Champion would of course recognize them. He and Lance had been to several of his fights while he had been in the arena. His father had had Lance himself announce the human as the new Champion when he had won the title. Keith pressed the intercom button again to turn it off and sat down in the pilot's chair, bringing Lance with him to sit him in his lap. This was really dangerous. There was no way the human would trust them, and if one of their own did not trust them, then of course the others would be quick to follow.

"Keith?" Lance asked quietly, cupping Keith's fluffy cheeks in both of his hands carefully, his thumbs rubs small steady circles at the small silky tufts of fur there as he spoke. "What is wrong my love?"

"They have the Champion."

"Then they are well armed."

"That also means that if we step foot outside this vessel that we will be recognized. Do you not remember that it was you yourself that announced him as Champion after that fight?" Keith looked directly into Lance's eyes, holding him there as the circles on his cheeks came to a still.

"Are you sure that it is the same human?"

"He has the same cybernetic arm Lance, it can only be him." Keith brang his left hand up to cover Lance's right one on his cheek and leaned into the gentle touch, twisting his head in Lance's hold so that he could nuzzle the soft skin of Lance's palm. He took in Lance's calming scent; fresh, cool sea water and warm sunshine. He breathed it in, savoring it, letting it run through his veins to tell his brain that the only thing he needed to worry about, was keeping his almost mate safe from harm. They just had one more period, and Keith would be damned if he let something happen to the tan aquatic boy in his arms now after waiting for so long.

"The Champion is strong." Lance said after a moment, he was blatantly ignoring the problem but Keith let him speak. "If he is on their side then surely there is at least a sliver of hope." Lance's voice was weak even to his own ears. As if he were trying not to think of the point Keith had brought up at all.

"Lance, we can not help them. They could never trust me, and by extension, you, not to mention that it is treason for both of us. Your people will be in danger. The treaty is not yet solidified until we are wed, and if my father thinks that we have betrayed him, he will not hesitate to go to war with your people. It will be bloody and messy, and I am sure both sides will suffer great loss before your people are dealt with, but it is a loss you and I both know he is more than willing to accept."

"I want to hear her out at least. Maybe they have a plan? Maybe they could, or, already have allied themselves with the Blade?"

"Have you heard such news from your contacts within the Blade?"

"They do not tell me everything Keith, just what they think I should know, places to stay away from, and when they need my assistance with something. How did you even know I have contacts within them though? I was trying to keep you out of it so you would not have to worry."

"My love, there are not many things you can keep secret from me." Keith smiled, kissing the inside of Lance's palm before turning his head back to face him. "That, and the Lieutenant himself told me that he had told you who he was working with a little after he came to you." Lance pouted at that, but let it go with a labored sigh.

"Even still, I want to hear them out, we can talk practicality later."

"There is nothing to talk about Lance, we have to decline."

"I can't just stand by and do nothing while Zarkon destroys other people's homes and lives, while I know that my own is safe. Do you know how many other planets hate us now? They call us traitors for agreeing to Zarkon's terms for peace. Many had believed that our people could have lead a rebellion against Zarkon."

"Then those people did not know your people very well. You would not have risen a hand against him. I know this because I have seen your people. They are kind and accepting of all. This was the only way your father was able to assure your planet's survival. And I never would have found you had he not agreed. My love, I know this is not ideal, I know that this is hard and that many other planets do not understand what sort of a wall my father had you backed into in order for all of this to have happened. But I know that it has all worked out for the best. Do not throw it all away for something so impossible. You can like an idea in theory, but you know that if they get the chance they will try to kill my father, and I know that you would not be able to be part of that."

"Perhaps not, but I need to at least try. Perhaps I could help them get in contact with the Blade then? We could send them supplies? Anything. I just wish to help as many resistance causes as I can."

"I know." Keith lifted his hand from Lance's and reached across the small gap to bring Lance's head closer to his own, pulling him in for a small, sweet kiss. It was just as much for himself as it was for Lance. "We can hear them out." he continued as he pulled away a few seconds later. "But I insist that we do not accept."

"We can make that call once we know for sure what sort of plan they have." Lance looked back to the screen to see that the group was still trying to talk to them, but Keith must have hit the mute button as well since he could not hear any of what they were trying to say. Getting up out of Keith's lap was not easy, he felt at home there, safe. But they couldn't have this sort of conversation indirectly. He offered Keith his hand and smiled as confidently as he could, which, at the moment wasn't as confident as he wished it were. Keith hesitated just a moment before Lance commented;

"Come on prince Keith, are you scared of a small meet and greet?" he teased half heartedly. It was clear though that Lance too was not feeling quite as at ease as he wished Keith to believe he was. Sighing in exasperation Keith took Lance's hand and they disembarked the Red lion together. This was a bad idea. Keith knew it. Knew he should have demanded Lance listen to him, but his instinctual need to make Lance happy had won him over. He heard their gasps before he even looked out to see the horrified expressions he knew accompanied those sounds. He shut his eyes and simply waited for the accusations to start flying. Lance's grip on his hand tightened and he felt the younger boy move to stand between him and the group as soon as the princess acknowledged his race.

"You're Galra." She sounded betrayed.

"Is that a problem Princess?" Lance asked, his voice much steadier now than it had been inside the red lion's cockpit.

"He's the enemy! Your stupid lion brought back an enemy pilot!" The little one screeched, turning on the princess. "You said you trusted those things and that they never made a mistake when picking paladins, I guess you spoke too soon, no wonder he said he couldn't help, he'll probably give our location away!"

"Pidge, maybe we should get to know him first, I mean, not all Galra can be bad, right? Statistically speaking, that's impossible. There has to be at least a few good ones out there." The large one spoke up almost immediately in their favor. Lance decided then that he liked that one.

"I am Lance, of Prata Neptunia, and this is my betrothed, Keith. Yes, he is Galra, but as stated before, our planet's are at peace. You have no need to worry about him. If anything, it is us who should be wary of you."

"That doesn't mean that we're at peace with the Galra." The champion growled as he activated his arm and took a defensive stance in front of the princess, and both Lance and Keith felt their blood run cold. Did he recognize them, was he going to try to kill them? Lance brought his hand up in front of him, at the ready to defend himself at a moment's notice. There wasn't much, if any water around them, and so that left him with few options should it come down to a fight. But it seemed that it wouldn't be necessary. Allura stepped up, holding her arm out to move the champion behind her once more.

"I do trust the lions. Though, I wonder what exactly Red was thinking picking a young Galra boy to be her paladin." She sounded as if she was at least trying to be accepting, but her voice was still strained. Keith's eyes snapped open and he had to hold himself back from snarling at the Altean woman. That certainly would not instill any sort of good will between them. Not only was she poorly hiding her disdain, which he understood, but she had insinuated that he was a child!

"I beg your pardon princess, but I am not a child. I am of age in my culture." he ground out, trying to keep his flaring anger under control. That was probably the biggest thing he disliked when meeting a new species, they assumed that because he was shorter than Lance, that he was also younger. Lance though, it seemed was having difficulties stifling his small laugh at his fiancé's expense.

"I apologize then." Allura's voice was curt as she frowned.

"May I suggest, Allura, that we move this elsewhere?" The older man at her side suggested as he stroked his mustache.

"I'm seconding Coran's on, let's just try and talk this out. I mean, yeah, Keith is a Galra, but Red chose him, and you said so yourself that you trusted the lions. Let's give him a shot."

"Hunk, the Galra are our enemy, we can't have one of their own as a paladin!" Pidge, if Lance remembered her name correctly, interjected. Lance wanted to disagree, but the Champion had still yet to disarm himself and he was not ready to challenge an arena champion on even terms, or ever for that matter.

"I promise that neither Keith or myself are a threat to you, so please, Champion, could you disengage?" Lance smiled his warmest smile and Keith was left wondering where he was getting the courage to do so when he knew for a fact that Lance was scared stiff.

"Shiro." The Champion corrected as he powered down his arm and returned to a more casual stance. Lance cocked his head to the side, in mild confusion before his eyes brightened and he smiled for real.

"Is that your name Champion?"

"Yes, but why do you keep calling me that? I'm not a champion of anything."

"Do you not remember your many battles in the arena?" Keith asked, finally speaking up, if he did not remember his time in that horrible place, then perhaps it was safe to say that he did not remember them either?

"No. I don't remember anything from my time in Galra captivity." Shiro answered, his brows furrowing. "What are you talking about?"

"It is best you do not remember. They were not pleasant times." Lance supplied as he too lowered his arm, finally sure the threat was over.

"You knew me from back then?" Shiro raised a brow, his voice questioning, yet hesitant, as if he himself did not fully believe he wanted the answer to his own question.

"There were few who had not heard of you, Cha- Shiro." He corrected himself, noticing the slight way that seemed to help relax the battered warrior just slightly.

"What's the arena?" Hunk asked, his voice curious.

"A barbaric sport that the Emperor, and most of the Galra population enjoys spectating. They pit prisoners against one another in gladiatorial combat. The victor advances to the next round, and the loser is dead." Lance explained, his voice growing quiet as he came to that particular part of his explanation. "The more battles you win the higher you rank, until you have taken down the reigning champion, then you inherit the title and wait for a new challenger to try and take the title from you. The longer you can keep the title the more modifications they allow the druids to make to your body to enhance the difficulty for new challengers." He continued. Simply talking about it was making Lance feel sick. He was quite thankful for the hand that Keith placed on his shoulder after he finished, the gentle squeeze grounding him in the here and now. The others were quiet as they let Shiro take in the new information.

"That's just sick and wrong." Pidge finally spoke out.

"I wholeheartedly agree." Lance acceded, his gaze shifting to the ground.

"Why would they do that?"

"The Galra people pride themselves on their strength, the games are simply sport to us, watching other races battle for their lives and to see who can come out on top is thought of as prime entertainment." Keith answered Hunk's inquiry. "So much so, that it is even considered a family event to attend the gladiator fights." The others seemed to have mixed reactions, but none quite as strongly as Pidge and Allura.

"You sick bastards!"

"That is beyond cruel." They both spoke in unison.

"It's not unheard of though." Hunk offered quietly. "The Romans did similar things in the past, and I'm sure they weren't the only ones."

"Who's side are you on?!" Pidge yelled at him, Hunk seemed to shrink back some at the outburst.

"I'm just playing devil's advocate over here. You can't assume every Galra is bad, just like you can't say every German was a Nazi. It's not true. In fact one of the best spies we had in that war was a German, so maybe Keith being on our side could be just as helpful. You also can't fault one person for something that they have no control over. It's not like Keith can just walk up to Zarkon and tell him to stop holding the Gladiator games. If it's such a big part of his culture then it must have been around for quite a while." Shiro sighed as Hunk finished his explanation.

"Hunk's right you guys. I mean, it'll take some getting used to, but …"

"I won't stand for it. How do we know we can trust him?! Just because the lions picked them doesn't mean I did."

"We didn't pick this either. These things just showed up in the capital city and started scaring my people! I went to investigate them and was captured by the Blue lion. Keith thought I had died!" Lance argued, glaring at the small girl that was currently returning the glare twice as vehenemately.

"Not to mention that no sooner had we come to terms with what the lions were, we were shown sporadic images and then abducted, flown against our wills through a wormhole and halfway across the universe away from either of our planets." Keith picked up. "We have just as much doubt in our minds to trust you as you do us." He wasn't used to Lance showing any sort of animosity, but he understood why. He had always felt strongly when other races showed their distrust in him, was always the first to jump in to defend Keith against anyone who might dare to speak ill of him. Though, Keith supposed he shouldn't be surprised to see Lance so visibly angry. He was bound to pick up a few Galra traits after such exposure to the worst of it.

"Okay, let's take a step or two back here and talk like civilized people rather than yelling at eachother. That won't help anyone. Shiro, why don't you, Pidge and the Princess take them up to the common room and Coran and I can make something to eat. No one can be mad when there's good food around." Hunk smiled. Keith wanted to ask him what his definition of the word "good" was, but figured that would step on too many toes and so, held his tongue. Shiro shook his head as he stepped aside.

"Alright. That sounds a little better than a screaming match in a hanger." Lance watched as Shiro started pulling Pidge towards the door and eyed Hunk and Coran already leaving. He didn't really want to be left alone with the three people who seemed the most hostile towards them, but he supposed he really didn't have much of a choice at this point. Shiro didn't remember them and that was about the only saving grace that Lance could find in this situation so far, but how long would that memory loss last if they spent enough time together. Matt would at least be happy to know that the other man was safe. Now, if only he could risk telling him that the reverse was still true as well. He could feel Allura's steely gaze on him and Keith both as they slowly followed the other Paladins out the door, Lance clinging tightly to Keith's arm as all seven of them packed themselves into the lift.

"Any requests?" Hunk asked, obviously trying to break the tension hanging in the air.

"As long as it's not too salty or Ligmint root, I'll be fine with it." Keith offered dryly. Lance gave him a deadpan look before adding his own two cents;

"Just, no raw meat, please." Apparently Hunk thought he was funny because he soon heard the larger boy start laughing.

"Got it, not too salty, cooked meat, and no ligmint root, whatever that is."

"It is a Prata Neptunian delicacy that my fiancé seems to think will kill him if he eats it." Lance huffed.

"Only my tastebuds."

"And I keep telling you that it's good."

"And I know I've told you that I would rather eat literally anything else."

"So you've proven. Like a raw fish, blood, scales and all, was it really better?" Lance sassed.

"Well I don't think you will have to worry about that, my boy." Coran chuckled. "We don't have any ligmint root on board." he smiled and Keith returned the smile hesitantly.

"Well, at least there is that small gift then, and yes. It was better."

"Princess, guys, any requests you want to make?" Hunk asked again, looking to the other three occupants of the small compartment.

"I am sure whatever you two make will be wonderful Hunk." Allura's tone was clipped, and she had yet to take her eyes off of Keith since entering the small space. It seemed to Lance that she wanted to trust them, but was having a hard time allowing herself to. This was nothing new to the two boys, but usually they had their titles to rely on and the other parties were less likely to show their distrust so openly to royalty.

"Whatever." Pidge snarked, her head turning to face away from the two princes as she finally managed to pull her wrist free from Shiro's grasp.

"Whatever you want to make will be fine Hunk." Shiro smiled tiredly as he looked at the shorter paladin. There was a ding and then everyone started to move to exit the cramped space. Lance and Keith chose to exit last, waiting until all of the others were safely off the lift before even moving from their spot. The group followed Allura and Shiro to the common room as Coran and Hunk continued on ahead to the kitchen. Lance took a seat next to Keith on the couch, pulling the Galra's hand into his lap to keep as his anchor. He watched Keith as he noticed the other prince mentally map out the whole room, taking note of each doorway and how long it would take him to get both himself and Lance out if something were to happen. Lance gave his hand a gentle squeeze and smiled to him.

"Love, calm down. They just want to talk, it is not an interrogation."

"We still are unwelcomed guests here. I would prefer to keep the surprises to a minimum." But Keith still returned the gesture, tightening his grip in Lance's hands just slightly.

"If I might ask, Lance, why do you show such affection to this Galra?" Allura asked, her eyes trained on Keith the whole time she spoke, meeting his glare at such a prod at his character. Lance sighed and let his fingers play across Keith's hand as he chose his words carefully.

"Princess, on my planet, I was taught to only judge a person on their actions alone and not the actions of their people as a whole. When I was young, Keith was introduced to me and it was decided that we would be wed. Our families wished for our houses to be combined to show just how far this treaty of peace could go. Now, arranged marriages are nearly unheard of on my planet, so of course I was displeased when I first learned that such a decision had been taken from me. But then I got to know Keith. We spent much time together, six periods now, and I can honestly say that I doubt I could love anyone as much as I love Keith. Regardless of what he is, but for who he is. It has taken quite a bit of getting used to because both of our cultures are nearly complete opposites, but we try, and we make it work."

"You've been engaged for six years?" Pidge asked, as if she did not believe him.

"When the idea was proposed I was not yet twelve, and Keith was already fourteen. It is not customary for a Galra to mate until at least eighteen, and I can not bear children until the same age. And since procreation is a very large part of why the Galra mate, it only made sense that the wedding would be put off until I was of age, next period. Subsequently, this is also when the peace treaty is to be finalized, with our union."

"Why wait until you two are married?" Shiro couldn't help but ask.

"What do you mean, you can have kids, aren't you male?" Pidge seemed to have her own questions as well. Keith decided to take over at that point, looking Shiro in the eye as he spoke.

"So it is more binding is the simple way to explain it."

"But wouldn't that mean you two are from pretty important families?"

"That really should not be of any concern to you. Who our families are is not who we are." He then turned his attention onto Pidge and spoke again; "And yes, right now Lance is male, but his people are fluid with their sex, he can be either gender as he so wishes. He just feels most comfortable taking form as male most times. Though," He smirked, side eyeing Lance slyly. "I do not quite understand why with how much he is similar to his mother." he teased. Lance squawked indignantly.

"What is that supposed to mean? Gender roles are nonexistent on my planet, it is only on yours that I have such problems as seeming too feminine."

"Fascinating, so anyone of your people can carry a child?" Pidge inquired further. It was clear that her curiosity was winning over her distrust for the time being, but how long that would last, Keith couldn't tell.

"Of course, that is why we do not care if two people who prefer to present themselves as the same sex most times do choose to wed, because if they want children, it is not a problem."

"From what I remember, your people are pacifists, are they not?" Allura asked pointedly.

"We are, and yes, the Galra are not, but that was one of the main reasons that our planet decided to take Zarkon up on his offer of peace. We would not be able to fight back. We have the ability, but lack the heart to commit any ill deeds towards anyone, regardless of how they treat us or others." Lance cast his gaze down to the ground. "Many planets see us as traitors, but, we had no other options."

"Which, is why we can not help you. It would be risking too much."

"I believe that is Lance's decision to make, not yours."

"You want him to throw away all the lives on his planet? For something you don't even know will actually work?"

"Zarkon must be stopped. By any means necessary."

"You are no better than he is if that is what you truly believe." Keith had had enough of this, they had come to talk strategy and that was the one topic that had yet to come up, and if Allura thought that 'any means necessary' was an actual means to an end when dealing with someone of the same mind set, she was sorely mistaken.

"Excuse me?! I am nothing like that monster!" Allura's anger flared up once more, her face turning slightly redder at Keith's words.

"He is exactly the same way! He does not care how many of his men die as long as his goal is reached in the end. Collateral damage does not even register for him! You are saying that you will take him down by doing whatever it takes, and "whatever it takes" is going to cause a bloodbath."

"We are the defenders of the universe-"

"And what will be left of this universe you are trying to defend if you do not take all precautionary measures while fighting him?!"

"More than will be left if he is allowed to continue his ways!"

"Then come up with a strategic plan of action! Do not charge him head on guns blazing, hoping that no one will get caught in the crossfire, because they will. He will use any means he can to deter you. He will send in distractions and prisoners as suicide bombers, anything he thinks will weaken you in any way possible. One of these ways, if we join you, will be the destruction of Prata Neptunia." He paused. "You can say any means necessary all you want, but if that means sacrificing innocent lives just because you think it is for the greater good, then you have no right to judge Zarkon on anything he does. You forfeit the right to argue his morals or fight him on anything you disagree with. Because you will be doing exactly the same thing."

"Keith." Lance sighed, placing one of his hands on Keith's knee, trying to get him to simmer down. Allura was fuming quietly in her seat, refusing to look anywhere near the both of them.

"She is asking the impossible of you Lance, we both know that neither of us are in a position to fight Zarkon, and if we do-"

"I have been, in my own way." He looked up to try and look Allura in the eyes. "I want to help you to form Voltron, I do, but as Keith says, that really is not an option available to us right now. But that being said, I can help in other ways. My planet would never turn down anyone in need of help, and I can assist you with finding allies or information, even supplies. But I can not be one of your paladins."

"Lance, do you know what you are offering?" Keith asked quietly, trying to make sure Lance knew what he was doing.

"Yes, and I realize the dangers of it, but I can not sit by while there is this much of a chance to help."

"Fine, then I want proof that we can trust you. You said earlier that prisoners are put in the arena. Are there other places that they could be sent? My brother and father were part of Shiro's team when he was taken by the Galra, I want to know what happened to them." Pidge interrupted.

"There are other places that your family could have been taken to yes, and I apologize for my people for such a tragedy befalling you, but if you ask us exactly where they could be, I can not tell you." Keith answered honestly. "There are too many variables. How they acted upon boarding, who sentenced them. There are many places all across the universe that a prisoner could have been sent to for any number of reasons. The Arena is simply the more popular choice for stronger prisoners, prisoners who refuse to follow orders, and for those that some generals think would prove entertaining in the ring. Others are sent off to work in mines in different solar systems, some are sent, sold, or traded to be trained as pets or slaves, others for breeding purposes depending on their race. I can not say for sure where your family could have ended up."

"What do you mean they could be pets?! They're human! Not dogs!" her happy curiosity was gone now, back was her anger and obvious dislike of them.

"It is all the same to a Galra, and once they have been properly trained they are sent out to any number of people for any reason at all. Several subjugated planets that have integrated into the Galra culture and higher up Galra officers and nobility go through many quite quickly."

"What kinds of pets do your people train?" Pidge spat out the word 'pet' as if just saying it had left a bad taste in her mouth.

"It is best you not ask questions you do not wish to know the answers to." Lance offered. Trying to keep the girl's feelings in mind.

"I want to know." She insisted.

"If we are to be able to trust you, there can be no secrets." Allura tacked on bitterly. Lance cringed slightly, he didn't like keeping secrets, but the secrets that they were keeping were better kept to themselves, especially after Keith and Allura's argument, which, the Altean woman still didn't seem to be completely over.

"You will not like the answer." He mumbled half heartedly.

"Pets are trained for any number of reasons. The most common for a small species is pleasure pet, but there are others that are chosen to be family pets or to serve others with special needs. Pet is by far the better of most of the different sentences a prisoner could be given." Keith pushed on, knowing that if Lance seriously wanted to pursue this, that it would be best to just tell them what they wanted to know rather than watered down half truths.

"And, what does a pleasure pet do exactly?" Shiro asked this time, his face seeming to flush of all color as he adopted an almost guilty look.

"Exactly as it sounds, they are trained to give their masters pleasure in whatever way they wish. They are essentially sex slaves." The topic didn't seem to even phase Keith, but Lance still felt that ever present churn in the pit of his stomach whenever the topic of pets came up in conversation. He knew it was a thing the Galra did, but he did not support it. The entire idea of a person as a pet didn't sit well with him. Especially pleasure pets. Sure his people enjoyed sexual acts, but only when it was mutual. The idea of forcing someone who did not want or know otherwise - as was most often the case, usually having been given drugs to make them more compliant- into such an act made him physically sick. He had never quite understood how using a pleasure pet was different from being disloyal to one's mate either. It seemed hypocritical to him, but he chalked it up to another of those things he was just not meant to understand.

"WHAT?!" Pidge roared, making to lunge at Keith, but before she could do more than lean forward, her body seemed to be stuck in it's chair. Frozen almost. Her eyes were wild behind her glasses and her nostrils flared as she seethed at Keith. "Why can't I move?! What did you do to me?! You guys said you weren't a threat!" Try as she might though, none of her limbs would respond to her. Lance's eyes were blown wide in panic, his pupils dilated to the point where the blue in his irises was more a sliver of an outline than the calming pools of crystal clear water that Keith often associated them with. He had instinctively moved as close as he could get to Keith, his right hand completely stiff in his lap, wrist flicked up, and fingers splayed out open as his heart beat faster and faster. Keith blinked a few times, he hadn't known Lance had gotten so good at his blood bending to use it on such short notice. Though, he was completely rigid and Keith knew already that he was probably holding his breath as he always did when he was scared and had to use his abilities.

"Lance." He cooed softly, turning to face his fiancé, putting his hands to Lance's cheeks, his thumb rubbing softly just under his eyes. "Baby, breathe. Okay? Come on, in and out." he coached him slowly, taking a deep breath as he tried to get Lance to respond. "I'm okay, you can let her go." Lance still wasn't listening though. He could hardly hear anything over the sound of his own heart beat rattling away in his chest as if to the beat of some erratic song that even he couldn't hear.

"What is going on?!" Pidge shouted, obviously struggling with no longer being in control of her own body.

"Shh, if you want him to let you go, I need you to stop so I can calm him down." Keith tried to reason with the struggling teen. Though, it didn't seem to have the desired effect seeing as now Allura and Shiro both were freaking out.

"What has he done to her?"

"What is going on?" they both pestered before Keith snapped at them;

"Enough! I will explain in a moment, but for right now, before he makes himself pass out, I need you to be quiet!" He glared at them, waiting for both of them to nod in agreement before leveling a stern look on Pidge. "And you, stop shouting, and promise that once he releases you that you will remain where you are. He only did this because he felt you were threatening me."

"I was threatening you!"

"And as you can see, it did not quite work out too well for you, now did it?"

Pidge simply glared back at him and harrumphed. "Fine."

"Good." Keith turned his attention back to Lance and brought his hands back down to Lance's neck, rubbing sweetly at his gills again and kissing him lightly on the cheek. "Lance, love, please just take a breath. I don't want you to make yourself pass out again." And slowly the group heard Lance take in a small, shaky gulp of air, his body quaking as he slowly let Pidge go and brought both his hands to his face, his eyes watering slightly.

"I'm sorry." he mumbled, shaking his head, leaning forward to bury his face in Keith's chest. "I thought she was going to hurt you." the small crack in his voice making Keith coil his arms around his almost mate and hold him tight, shushing him lightly, his protective instincts on high alert.

"It's okay, I am fine, you did well." He stroked up and down Lance's spine and let him stay there as long as he needed. A constant stream of apologies falling from his lips as he tried to get himself back under control. He knew that something like this was bound to happen when the only way his father would have Lance prove himself was by threatening him. It had helped him with his reflexes though it seemed. "You're faster at that now. Is that from training with my father?"

"She looked so angry. I was sure she would try to hurt you."

"And yet, I am fine. You let her go and she is still sitting in her seat across the room." He made sure to keep his voice low and calm, soothing him. "My love, look at me." Lance slowly brought his face up, away from Keith's chest, peeking out between his fingers, small beads of salty tears still clinging to his lashes and wet the spaces in between his fingers. "I am fine, you have nothing to worry about." He bent down to kiss Lance's forehead and smiled to him warmly. "You did so well." Keith reaffirmed. It took a few more ticks for him to calm down fully, and his eyes were red by the time he managed to pull himself up from Keith's chest to sit properly, but once he did he bowed his head slightly to Pidge and apologized.

"What was that?" She demanded in response. Lance averted his eyes once more, feeling guilty for over reacting.

"Lance's people have the ability to manipulate the waters of their planet, bending it to their will and using it for all sorts of purposes."

"That is common knowledge, but that does not explain what just happened between him and my green Paladin." Allura set her jaw in a stern frown and Keith simply nodded.

"I was getting to that. His people have such an ability, but Lance's affinity with water is much higher than that of a regular Prata Neptunian. He has the ability to bend nearly any liquid substance to his will, including blood."

"I just got Avatared?!" Pidge exclaimed, shocked. The others in the room, including Shiro giving her a confused look.

"I am, unfamiliar with this term, but essentially what happened was that Lance took momentary control of the blood inside your body making it so you could not move. I am afraid it is a learned response for when someone aims to attack me. My father has been forcing him to hone this ability since we've been engaged, and the way he usually tests it is by having someone attack me and making Lance stop them before I am hurt." Keith glanced over to Lance to make sure that he was still doing alright, offering him his hand when he still seemed skittish. Lance took it and squeezed it hard, his eyes clenching shut as he tried to ease the tension from his body, but the mention of Zarkon's tests flicked the switch for his heart to race once more. The pressure took Keith by surprise but he did nothing more than raise a quizzical brow at the other boy, silently asking if he was really going to be alright.

"That sounds horrible! What kind of parent would do that to their own child?" Allura gasped in horror. "Even a Galra should have more respect for their own children than to test someone in such a way!"

"I agree, and I do not enjoy using that technique, but I hate seeing Keith get hurt more than I dislike the invasive feeling of holding one's body hostage against their will." Lance muttered pointedly, his grip on Keith's hand releasing just slightly. But before anything more could be said on the matter, Hunk and Coran came back in with a plate full of snack foods. Hunk set the plate down on the small table in the middle of the room and took a seat on Lance's other side while Coran took a seat between Shiro and Allura.

"Woah, dudes, did you make him cry or something, why are Lance's eyes all red and puffy?" Hunk asked worriedly as he fussed over Lance, who honestly didn't know what to make of the attention.

"Him? I'm the one who got Avatared! Why are you fussing over him?"

"What do you mean?"

"He totally used blood bending on me!"

"... Did you deserve it? Because let's face it, you've been a little antagonistic, and I'd believe it if he thought it was in self defense."

"You'd take his side?!"

"She tried to lunge as me. Lance stopped her on instinct and then felt horrible about it." Keith cleared up easily. Hunk just nodded.

"See, I knew you did something to warrant it."

"That prick said that Matt and my dad could be out there as weird alien sex slaves! Of course I wanted to throttle him!"

"I told you you did not wish to know the answer." Lance's voice still cracked as he spoke, even though he seemed mostly back to normal. Coran handed him a pouch of water and one of the small little veggie cups that they had brought out with a small smile. He nodded his thanks and quickly downed the whole pouch of water. It tasted over filtered and slightly stale, but it was better than nothing. "But just because those are the most common does not mean that that is what happened. Your brother and father could be in one of the mines or possibly sold to a zoo, or something else."

"That isn't much better." Shiro again, his voice strained, he looked like he felt miserable too, and Lance really wanted to tell him that he at least knew Matt was okay, but it was too risky to tell anyone who could out him to the wrong people.

"Tell you what, if you two can find out where my father and my brother, Matt are being held, I'll trust you without a shadow of a doubt." Pidge huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "But trust doesn't equal respect or favor."

"Katie, that's blackmail." Shiro scolded.

"No, it's incentive."

"I don't know, the last time Voltron had a Galra involved with it, Altea was destroyed. I am sure that you are different from that Galra, but you are still Galra. He too pretended to be our friend, our ally, and then for no reason, he turned on us."

"Allura, there was more to that betrayal than you know, you can not hold that person's misdeeds against Keith. He had nothing to do with them."

"That may be, but he still has Galra blood flowing through him." At that Lance's head turned to glare at her.

"Excuse me Princess, but are you trying to say that my fiancé is the one who can not be trusted when clearly, it is your paladins that have tried to attack us numerous times? We have not raised a single finger against you without provocation, answered all the questions you have asked us honestly and to the fullest of our knowledge, and yet this is how you are treating us?"

"You also claimed not to be a threat, and withheld the information that you have the ability to control us against our wills." Allura countered.

"This is not new, Lance. I am used to it."

"You shouldn't have to be!"

"You know that is not true. My people have done horrible things to many different planets and cultures, torn apart families and destroyed homes. My blood is tainted, I can not change that. I understand why so many races instantly hate the Galra, it's a natural reaction after what he's done. I can live with it."

"Who your family and your people are is not who you are Keith, and I will tell you this as many times as I have to until you finally listen to me. You are not a soldier, you have not done any of these atrocities to anyone. You are my betrothed, you are my love, my protector. You are mine. And I say that your blood is clean."

"I wish it were that simple."

Lance sighed and stood from his spot, pulling Keith up with him. "We need a moment to ourselves." He announced as he pulled his sulking prince out the door with him and down the hall.

"We can't just let them roam the castle freely!" Pidge cried out angrily as she watched none of her teammates get up to stop them.

"No, I think we can." Hunk assured her as he leveled a disappointed look on Allura and Pidge. "Princess, you can't say things like that. Sure, we don't know Keith all that well, but not all Galra can be bad, it's a proven impossibility. And your blanket judgment is rude and wrong. Obviously this is something that they've had to deal with before, to the point where Lance doesn't feel comfortable talking him down in front of others." He scolded then turned his full attention to Pidge. "And you, they aren't our prisoners, they were chosen by the lions just as we were, they are potential paladins, you can't treat them like the enemy."

"They are the enemy! They said that they can't turn against the Galra Empire! They're still loyal to Zarkon!"

"Did you ever think maybe they're saying that because they don't feel welcome?"

"Lance did say he wanted to help in any other way he could …" Shiro offered weakly.

Allura was quiet while Hunk directed his outburst at Pidge but then spoke up when she felt she had the chance.

"He may not have personally destroyed my planet, but the man he pledges loyalty to did. I can not in good conscious place my trust in another Galra ever again. He is the enemy."

"Allura, Red is the pickiest lion to find a paladin for, are you sure that we can afford to chase them off? Blue will be upset at having to find someone else as well." Coran interjected softly. They had been waiting so long for the lions to return, and now, after all that talk of accepting anyone the lions chose, she was trying to push them away? They didn't have time to be picky. Red obviously thought Keith was good enough, and Allura trusted Red. That should have been enough.

Notes:

Next chapter the boys make a final decision.

Good Grief Allura! And Pidge, whyyyy?

The girls were just overly mean, but both hold a pretty strong grudge.

Also, I know people were saying that Keith might be kinda Zuko-y, and while editing today FrostyTrish and I joked about who would be who in the A:TLA universe and yes, Keith would totally be Zuko. Lance is like a mix of Katara and Aang though, so that was a strange thing to think about. Like, I can totally get behind ZukAang, but the thought of Zutaraang was just too weird, we had a good laugh about that. And so decided to just keep him as Aang(if Katara ever taught him blood bending, which we then discussed how differently the fight between him and Ozai would have been if he had learned it), Allura was a better Katara anyway. She suggested Hunk be Toph, but let's face it, Hunk would be Iroh, and Pidge would be Toph. Shiro would probably be Suki, and I love the idea of Coran being Sokka.

(Normal Lance would be Sokka though, he'd totally try to come up with some version of "gaang" for team Voltron, probably only Hunk would say it was good, even though Keith would totally agree, he'd never say it out loud XD)

And yes, it kinda cuts off in the middle of their conversation, but I promise, that was intended and not just because it was getting too long XD

Also, there are hints at Matt's part, feel free to make guesses ;)

I promise when it gets around to that part, I will explain everything!

Until next time, as always, I love seeing your comments, I try to respond to all of them, if I don't then I'm super sorry and you have every right to yell at me!

~ Evi