-One varga later-

Lance-

We were exhausted. No one spoke much as we arrived back at the castle.

Shiro dashed off with Allura to start planning a rescue for Pidge. Hunk went off to the kitchen to bake something. And Coran was most likely cleaning or repairing something.

And I was left alone.

I knew that that wasn't abnormal.

That I was used to being alone.

But it still hurt to have no one I could trust to talk to.

I thought that maybe I would play the video game Pidge and I had bought, but that only made me think of Pidge.

I resigned myself to stand by a window, staring at the endless stars.

I felt useless. I wished I could have done, something to save Pidge. I felt like maybe, if I had done anything, we would have all of our paladins.

I knew that Shiro would just tell me that I was plenty useful and that there was no reason for me to worry, but I still couldn't help but think, maybe, he was just saying that to make me feel better.

I missed Keith. I had liked talking to him when he had been leader. He had been more honest. Not to say that Shiro wasn't honest, but he tried so hard not to hurt other's feelings, that he would sometimes dodge the truth.

I was feeling awful and alone. I needed to do something else my self-loathing would increase.

Right now, I needed to find some way to help Pidge, since I couldn't, (or hadn't) before.

"I have an idea!" I said as I burst through into the control room where Shiro and Allura were standing very close to each other.

"Yes, Lance?" Allura asked, taking a suspicious step away from Shiro.

"Okay, hear me out. I know how brutal the Galra can be and without having possession of the Green Lion, I'm worried that… that maybe they would prefer to get rid of one of the paladins over using them as a hostage."

"I'm worried about that too," Shiro admitted.

"Well, I feel like we might have a better chance at saving Pidge if we could form Voltron," I continued, "plus, if we need… a replacement…"

"What are you saying Lance?" Allura inquired.

I sighed. I sincerely hoped that they wouldn't see my hidden desires in this request. "Either way, we need to act quickly. I was hoping that if we brought back our former paladin, maybe he could bond with the Green Lion temporarily, and… we could… save… Pidge…" I trailed off as I saw the looks of dismay and uncertainty on Allura and Shiro's faces.

"Lance," Shiro said calmly; comfortingly, "I know that you miss Keith, we all do, but he made his choice to join the Blades."

I swallowed. I couldn't say anything without my voice breaking.

Unexplainably, I felt extremely alone. I lowered my head and stared at the ground, refusing to meet their eyes.

"Plus," Allura added, "There is a very small likely hood that Keith would bond with the Green Lion."

I found a deep fury inside of me. I raised my head, "Well, maybe, Keith could take Red. He was better at it anyway! Maybe I could just leave! I'm of no use anyway. I only hurt everyone around me."

I was stunned by my own words. I looked at the ground. I could feel the familiar sting of tears in my eyes. I would not let them fall.

"Lance—" Shiro began before he was interrupted by Hunk walking in.

"Hey Guys! Dinner's ready! I already found Coran working on maintenance."

Bless, sweet Hunk.

He had come at the perfect time.

"Lance," Shiro said, sounding very much like a dad, as he and Allura started follow Lance to eat, "we will talk about this after we eat."

I nodded, refusing to look.

Hunk hung back to check on me, which, admittedly, was really sweet.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," I said, wiping my eyes on the sleeve of my jacket. Hunk was probably the one who understood me best, but he was so optimistic, that I never wanted to talk about all of my life problems to him. I would rather keep him happy and smiling for me.

And I think Hunk knew, and respected that.

"Okay," Hunk said. "You coming to eat?"

I smiled as I looked up at him, "Save me a bowl, or plate. I have something I need to do. Don't tell Shiro and Allura. Just… say—"

"I'll say you went to go train, or something, to get your mind off of Pidge," Hunk said nodding.

"Thank you."

"Anytime buddy."


Keith-

When I walked into the Blade's communication room, I noticed that no one was there.

Perfect.

The incoming video call was blinking so I pressed it, causing the projected screen to appear.

I hadn't realized how much I had missed Lance until I saw him.

He was smiling, albeit, nervously, but his beautiful ocean-blue eyes shone and his messy brown hair glinted in the faint light.

I was suddenly, oddly, concerned with how sooty my suit was and how awful I must look to Lance.

Nonetheless, Lance's whole face lit up. "Keith! I'm so happy to see you!"

"I'm happy to see you, too, Lance," I told him genuinely.

"How are things with the Blades right now?"

I didn't really want to think about them. I wanted to focus on Lance's life. But maybe Lance himself was trying to do the same thing? Trying to focus more on me than on his own problems?

No, that was ludicrous. Lance wouldn't want to talk about my life. He was just being conversational.

"Right now, we just got back from a mission. We lost another good soldier. We haven't had the best success rates recently."

Lance nodded solemnly.

"Us too," he said quietly.

I sat down in a chair so that I could more comfortably talk to Lance. "What happened for you guys? Did you lose someone?" I was worried that one of the other Paladins or Coran had been hurt but at the same time, I was relieved that it wasn't Lance who had been hurt.

"Pidge was captured."

At least no one had died, I thought, though, I could hear the familiar pain in Lance's voice.

Were his eyes red? Had he been crying?

I knew that he would blame himself no matter what. I knew that Lance had low self-esteem when it comes to his worth in saving the galaxy.

I wanted nothing more than to jump through the holographic screen so that I could hug Lance. I understood depression and wished I could help him cope and feel appreciated.

Lance had hung his head down. "I- She was in a Galra ship when a guard found her. We had tried to save her, but we just left. I was the-the one who told her to try it. I c-caused this—"

"Lance," I was surprised by my own tone of warmth. "I don't know what happened, but from what I know of the Galra, I doubt you could have saved her. At least, not at the expense of the lions. Besides, I'm sure you will be able to get her back."

"That's the thing," Lance said nervously as he twisted his fingers together. "We still have the Green Lion with us and we think we might need Voltron."

"I don't understand," I said cautiously, not allowing myself to hope my suspicion was right.

Lance wouldn't meet my gaze through the hologram screen. "I was hoping you could try to bond with the Green Lion. At least until we get Pidge back."

I was touched by his idea. The thought of coming back to the castle sounded amazing. And Lance being the one to ask made me feel even more obliged to go. I didn't really want to be a paladin again; I wanted to keep working with the Blades. But I did want to see the other paladins and especially Lance. And if I could help rescue Pidge, that would be worth it.

I stared at him with his head bent downwards. I couldn't tell but… was there a hint of a blush on Lance's cheeks?

I felt a deepening warmth spread in my chest.

"Hmm," I breathed quietly. I didn't think that the Green Lion would take me, but I was okay with that as long as I got to see Lance. "Yeah, okay. I can try. I doubt it will work but I would be willing to try."

Lance let out an apparent breath he had been holding. "Thank you. Please come as soon as you can."

"I can head out now," I said. I wished that we could be one of those couples who drove or flew somewhere while sharing a blanket and sleeping quietly on one another. But we weren't even a couple, yet.

'Yet!' I chastised my brain. It is never going to happen.

But, seeing Lance smile was plenty to warm me to my core and give me a cause to go.

"Keith," Lance called as I went to reach out for the end call button. "I-I li—"

Lance turned bright red, his eyes grew huge, and he sat up quickly, stuttering to recover himself.

I had only a vague suspicion of what he was about to say, but I feared I was just being hopeful so I didn't think about it much.

"I-I mean, I literally can't wait until you get here," Lance paused before adding, "I really want to save Pidge."

"Right. Me too," I told him. I smiled faintly and pressed the end-call button.

I took off towards my room to get changed into more comfortable clothes, grabbed my knife, and then went directly to an escape pod so I could get to the castle as quickly as I could.


Notes: I'm thinking this will probably be a 4-5 chapter fanfiction. I'm going to try to upload a chapter per day but no guarantees. Thanks for reading! :) Please review if you have anything to say (Positive or Negative).