The Discovery

Keith stared up at the ceiling, his mind swirling with everything that had happened in the last few days. Almost dying at the hands of that bastard Lotor shook him up more than he would ever admit to anyone. Losing his life was one thing, but leaving his Princess was another. After all, she did say she wanted to have children with him, some day.

Well, at least that's what he thought she meant. They were both so exhausted when they went to bed the night before that any attempt at a coherent conversation was tossed out the window and they settled for falling asleep in each other's arms. Not that he was complaining, he loved feeling her soft skin pressed against his, her hand stroking his arm and his fingers playing with her hair. Still, those words.

Maybe she was just trying to keep him from passing out. Maybe she meant something else entirely. It was not easy letting her sleep when he wanted to drag an answer out of her so badly. So, when he heard a slight groan rising from her side of the bed he decided to make a move. Her ears being her most sensitive feature he reached over to tease the exposed one with his tongue. She sleepily swatted him away but her eyes began to flutter open. He nestled closer so that their noses were almost touching.

"Good morning beautiful."

"Good morning, my love."

He didn't want to jump right into the question but it blurted out before he could stop himself.

"So, dibs huh?"

"Oh, um, well, only if you want children. Some day. I mean, if we…"

"I'd love that."

Her smile brightened and for that moment everything else was forgotten.

"Guys, I need you in the control room, STAT!" Pidge's voice crackled over the coms, evaporating the beauty of the moment.

By the time they arrived at the bridge all the other paladins were waiting impatiently. Pidge hated having to repeat herself so she refused to speak until all were present. Lance tried to tease it out of her but his charm was falling flat. Hunk knew better than to even try.

Once everyone was settled they listened intently to Pidge's- to put it bluntly- data dump. The Blade had little intel on Doom since their presence had been detected within the Galra Empire. The computer hacking genius had been up all night trying to decode information to help develop a plan to find and extract Shiro from the prison. Anything less than precise preparation and execution could mean more losses for the team.

"We aren't going to Doom. We're going to Earth." Pidge's tone of voice convinced Keith that this was not a joke.

He wanted to save Shiro now, and he knew the rest of the team did as well, but Keith allowed her to continue to see where this was headed. She'd kept constant tabs on Galaxy Garrison after seeing a spike in chatter, which sharply dropped off into radio silence. That meant something big was going on and she wanted to know about it. He knew her reasons were personal but felt it was a good idea to keep a close eye on their home planet in general.

"I believe I've found my brother, Matt. And I think he escaped from Planet Doom."

Even the mice fell silent as the enormity of her words filled the room. Keith worried that she was getting over-excited and might be headed for disappointment. She'd not been able to delve into the deeper parts of the Garrison's network recently and was constantly cursing the new IT security person who was thwarting her at every turn. It was as if they could anticipate her moves, which gave her an idea.

"Matt and I used to practice hacking together. He knows all of my tricks, it has to be him."

Keith quietly pondered this, the big question lurking in the back of his mind but begging to be spoken.

"How do you know he escaped from Doom?"

"At first I didn't know, but the letters M, O, O, and D kept popping up. It never meant much to me until yesterday and the pieces finally fit together. Matt was sending me a message."

Once again, the room was abuzz. They all agreed that this should be looked in to, especially if this could help save Shiro. Garrison headquarters had taken great precautions to keep this secret so sneaking in would be their best shot of getting to Matt. Luckily, they all knew the building inside and out so getting past security shouldn't be an option. Since Pidge had done all the legwork so far, Keith decided to ask her to work up a scenario to get them in. Her response was surprising.

"We go through the front door."

"Um, don't you think all of our student access cards have been shut off by now?" Lance gave a confused look to her then to Hunk. It would make sense after the three cadets just disappeared one night.

Keith was curious himself. Once he washed out he'd tried to get back in to retrieve Shiro's belongings but couldn't get past the entrance. He looked to Pidge quizzically, hoping for an explanation that didn't involve too much technical jargon.

"Our badges are active in the system. I think he's counting on us coming there."

That settled that. They had to go, there was no way around it.

The Olkari ships hailed the bridge as they arrived in the planet's orbit. The pilots flew the lions down to join them and took care of the few Galra fleets that dared try to defend the slave operation. Once all the citizens were boarded and Bandor had control of the battle cruisers of Pollux's military force, the Voltron team flew back to the castle-ship and the Princess opened a wormhole to her paladins' home planet.

Keith took Pidge, Hunk and Lance in the cloaked space pod down to the desert near Galaxy Garrison. It felt like going back to a past that someone else had lived. The building seemed so much smaller, much less advanced technologically speaking. They had left there knowing little of the world, much less the universe. So much had changed since then.

Each of them was dressed in uniform. Allura insisted they go as representatives of Altea, not as dropouts. None of them had argued, because all they had accomplished these last few years had been as subjects to the Princess. Whoever they encountered at the gate would show them the respect due them and allow them to pass unquestioned.

Once inside they were greeted by Commander Iverson, who was surprisingly cordial all things considered. He escorted them to an underground bunker that none of them even knew existed. When he opened the door a Galra transport ship was visible in an impressively sized hangar, surrounded by people in white jumpsuits. It looked like they were rebuilding it after taking it apart piece by piece.

"Katie! You made it!"

Pidge's head swiveled around trying to find the owner of the voice. The room was gigantic and buzzing with workers. Finally, Lance nudged her and pointed to a young man who looked very much like her but older. Even Keith was a bit misty-eyed watching the two run to each other. Pidge wasn't a hugger but Matt was obviously an exception. The Captain motioned to the others to stay put. There would be time for questions soon enough, but not now.

While they waited, Keith turned to Iverson. It was apparent the Commander knew they were coming, but how? Surely Matt was careful not to get caught trying to contact Pidge.

"Commander, thank you for giving us access to classified material. May I ask, were you aware that we would be visiting the Garrison?"

"Truth is we asked him to bring you here, but we needed to be sure the transmission couldn't be intercepted and risk bringing Galra troops as well."

"Well if anyone could figure it out, Katie could." Lance grinned as he looked over at her talking happily with Matt.

Keith chuckled and nodded his head in agreement. But back to the escape, how had Matt been able to get away from the most dangerous prison in the universe? Surely he'd had help, but the Blade had not been part of the rescue.

"Perhaps you should speak with the one who helped him get back to Earth. Through those doors to the left is a holding area. Kinda hate to do it but security protocol and all. Still, you're welcome to interrogate all you want, not that we've gotten a peep out've 'em."

Hunk and Lance stayed behind to wait for Pidge, while Keith entered the next room. It was more comfortable looking than a typical cell. It could almost be mistaken for a dorm room were it not for the glass partition between him and the prisoner. The subject stood revealing a tell-tale Galra marking; the image startled the young paladin.

"It's you, the Galra soldier I rescued from the weblum."

The inmate, whose face was still obscured by a hood and a mask, stopped dead still. Small hands reached up to disengage the mask, revealing a Galra with feminine features and Altean markings. Keith's hands moved unbidden to the glass, his eyes wide with realization.

"Mom?"

"Hello, my little one."