The Trade
"How come the Princess gets to fly the new lion?"
"Lance, we've been over this. You're just not good enough."
"Keith, that's not true and you know it," Allura countered. "It was built for my mother and requires the ability to manipulate quintessence."
The two paladins threw each other a pointed look before returning to the conversation. Tensions were running high between Lance and Pidge, and Keith's attempt to refocus the Blue Paladin failed miserably. He really couldn't help but worry how their relationship troubles might affect the team.
It had been nearly a full day since they'd found the bayard. Since then Hunk and Pidge had been working with Root to try to find the key to the lion's place in the giant robot. They'd finally decided to just run the lions and let the sequence direct them.
Normally the Captain would have had no problem winging it, but his mind still went back to the theory that piloting it could hurt Allura.
And the baby.
He'd had Coran run scans on her after they'd found the bayard. And another in the morning. Everything seemed fine, but Daniel did have a bit of a growth spurt. So much so that Allura had to suddenly switch to maternity clothes to accommodate her growing waistline.
Granted he knew they were on a shorter than usual (for humans) schedule, but he couldn't shake the idea that the lion was somehow responsible for the sudden change.
Still they needed to do a test run and Allura had to fly. They eventually decided to take the castle to a galaxy that was out of the Galra Empire's reach to prevent being spotted and revealing their secret weapon. The ship was about to wormhole when the team received an SOS from the space prison where Haggar and Lotor were being held.
"Paladins of Voltron, we are under attack! Please help us immediately!"
Keith was worried about getting there in time. Since the prison was essentially a modified Olkari cube it was designed to float in space, allowing ease of movement to deter Galra forces from locating it. As an extra precaution the castle also didn't have updated coordinates, only previous ones.
"Pidge, we need to find that prison! If they succeed in grabbing the witch and Lotor—"
She didn't need him to finish the statement, her fingers busily flying over the controls. "I know Keith, we'll have no chance of rescuing my dad alive. Trust me, I'll find it."
Already the Captain was dreading his next orders, knowing they'd probably cost him sleep for the next week. The couch was stiff and unforgiving, but she wouldn't feel bad about putting him there. She might even kick him out of the bedroom entirely.
"Allura," he started, sucking in as much air as his lungs could hold, "you need to sit this one out. Mom will take Red."
To his relief she looked less angry than discouraged.
"Fine. But the second the team needs help I will be out there. Is that understood?"
"Yes, your highness," Keith teased, following up his response with a brief kiss on her forehead. He wouldn't argue with her, since he had no intention of letting her be needed for this mission.
Soon the castle-ship had locked onto the coordinates and Allura opened a wormhole. They were met on the other side with a large fleet of Galra ships firing furiously on the retaliating cube. As per their previous experience the cube was learning as it was taking hits, returning shots with greater intensity.
Still, the sheer number of enemy ships meant the prison was starting to be overwhelmed.
"Team, everyone to your lions. Slav, help Coran try to get a lock on which ship Commander Holt might be in. We'll try to distract but not destroy for now. Matt, you're with Pidge in case we need you to board a cruiser to get your father."
The battle was one of the toughest they'd ever faced. Zarkon meant business when it came to getting his witch back. Hunk played defense while Green and Blue used everything in their arsenal to slow the battle. Red and Black took out as many small fighter ships as they could, being careful to draw their shots away from the larger ones.
"Keith, something's going on with the cube. Look! The bottom corner, it's—" Coran's voice stopped as if he couldn't quite register what he was seeing.
Roughly one quarter of the cube began to change color- taking on a hue that looked suspiciously like dark quintessence- before breaking away from the larger cube. Black flew in for a closer look when a bright flash knocked it backwards. Keith frantically tried to right the lion but it wasn't responding, and it looked like the fractured part of the cube was preparing to fire once more.
He braced for the hit, unaware that a small wormhole opened nearby. Without warning the White Lion- oh god, Allura- flew directly at the threat, the momentum sending both of them through the opening.
"ALLURA!" Keith screamed as he began to desperately shift levers in an attempt to move the disabled craft.
Keith, come find us. We'll be waiting.
The fissure closed unceremoniously as the fighting came to a halt. The Galra fighters retreated, their goal now somewhere on the other side of the universe. Bandor radioed that his ships were close, ready to guard the base from further attacks.
The Black Paladin sat frozen in his seat, any attempts to breathe thwarted by the heaviness in his chest. The hum of the lion's system coming back online nearly escaped his notice.
"Keith, are you okay? Do you need help?"
Hunk's voice finally snapped him back to reality. The team was awaiting his orders, circling him anxiously.
"Everyone back to the castle. We need to find out where they went."
Suddenly a shot flew at them from the darkness of space. Roughly a dozen fighters zoomed around them like errant flies, preventing them from shooting lest another paladin get caught in friendly fire.
"Pidge, make a break for the castle, I'll cover ya," Lance ordered.
The Green Lion was halfway to her berth when she took a hit.
"No! You son of a bitch," Lance cried, firing several rounds at the offending craft.
"Pidge, are you there? Can you hear me," Keith called to her while assisting the team in clearing out the remaining fighters?
"Guys, Pidge is unconscious and the lion is unresponsive. What do I do?" Matt's face appeared on the screen, clearly shaken.
Behind him there was a loud whirring noise and a blue glow. Matt stepped to the side to watch the proceedings, offering the rest of the team a view as well.
From the floor of the cockpit rose a second seat, just to the right of the pilot's. On either side two orbs appeared, mirroring the one's in the castle's control room.
The ships navigation system, used by Allura to steer the castle through space.
"Matt, take a seat and see if you can make it to the dock. We'll watch your back."
"Coran, can all the lions do that?" Hunk's voice was cautiously optimistic as he questioned the royal advisor.
"I know King Alfor considered having two paladins for each lion after Zarkon turned against the team, but he never told me the upgrades had been completed. So, to answer your question, I don't know."
Once the team had all reached their hangars, Keith hailed the bridge to see if the White Lion had been located.
Nothing.
He shouldn't have been surprised. The newer lion had yet to be added to the tracking system, and depending how far away it was it might be at a point it could require several days to find.
Keith made his way to the control deck, cursing himself for not locking Allura in their room until after the battle. There had to be a way to find them. He was sure of it.
Our connection.
They'd had precious little use for it after the bonding ceremony, but he could recall Coran saying it should be stronger now. So far, he'd only been able to hear Allura's thoughts, though, so coordinates might prove more complicated.
Pidge's voice broke his train of thought. "Were we able to locate my father on any of the ships? There were so many, he had to have been on one of them."
"Sorry Number Five, nothing but Galra life forms on those ships. I'm so sorry."
"Makes me regret holding back. Now I'm really itching to destroy some ships," Lance spit through clenched teeth.
"My guess is if we find Allura we'll find plenty of ships to shoot," Hunk responded.
Keith was seeing red now. "Not if, when. I will find them, and I will save them."
The room fell silent, no one addressing the harsh reality. They could move in any direction and it could either take them closer to the Princess or farther away. Despite having so many geniuses in the room there was little to be done.
"Coran, what if we open a wormhole, do you think the ship will take us where they went?"
"I don't know Nanny, but we can always give it a try," the advisor replied as he stepped up to the navigation podium.
"Why isn't a wormhole opening up? You've done it before," Lance asked impatiently.
"The ship simply isn't responding to me. I can't make her go!"
"I have an idea," interrupted Root. She'd been so quiet Keith had forgotten she was even there.
"I'll welcome any ideas at this point," Keith responded, trying to hide the tension in his voice.
Root walked over to him, taking his two hands and directing him to where the control columns stood, shooing Coran out of the way. She placed Keith's palms gingerly on them, covering his fingers with her own.
"Keith, you're the only link we have to Princess Allura right now. You're our best hope. Concentrate on who you want to see most of all."
Determination overthrew desperation. If he was going to reach them he had to reach out to them. Somewhere deep in his belly his instinct told him she was right, he was going to find them no matter what.
He closed his eyes and cleared his mind of everything but them.
Allura and Daniel. My wife and my son. My family.
Soon the screen flickered with swirls and points of lights indicating stars and planets. A portal appeared before them and Keith willed the spaceship in its direction. They found themselves hurtling through one of the bumpiest wormholes they'd ever experienced, but no one thought to complain.
"Everyone to your lions. We're all going as teams so listen up for your pairing."
Wide eyes all shot to his face to check for accuracy. Obviously they were questioning his clear-headedness at this moment.
"Why would we do that?" Hunk asked the question as though he liked the idea but wasn't sure if he should.
"We know Green has a jump seat for a co-pilot or navigator, whichever. It stands to reason the others do as well. I can't shake that it appeared for a reason, so let's take advantage of it," Keith replied.
"But only Matt is trained as a paladin," countered Pidge.
"None of us was trained the first time around. And this time they won't be alone." Keith knew it was a long shot, but his gut was telling him it was the right move to make.
Quickly he paired them off: Shay with Hunk, Anton with Nanny, Root with Lance, Matt with Pidge.
"Shiro and Romelle are with me in Black," he finally said.
"Wait, why do you need both of us with you? Shiro should be fine without me," questioned Romelle.
"I know, but this is important," he responded.
He already knew what he needed to do.
As they were getting the secondary team geared up Lance pulled Keith aside. "Look, is there any chance of putting Katie with me?"
"I'm not sure Matt is ready to be on his own yet. Why?"
"After what happened earlier, I…I can't protect her when she's in another lion," Lance whispered. "You should understand more than anyone what that's like."
"I do buddy, which is why you have to learn to trust that she'll be okay," Keith mused, the realization settling in uncomfortably. "If I'd let Allura go in the first place I could have covered for her. She'd be here—"
Lance nodded in understanding. The whole team would probably suffer if Pidge wasn't in her lion anyway.
Just as the newly minted pairings were making their way to their respective bays the castle exited the wormhole.
"Keith, I can see them! They're both here, but the White Lion looks a bit sluggish," Coran's concerned voice scratched over the coms.
Roll call indicated everyone was settled into their lions; in the Black Lion, he had put Romelle in the jump seat, keeping Shiro beside him to watch for looming threats of Galra ships. Immediately they took off into the dark expanse of space, each lion taking up a defensive position around the Princess.
Neither the White Lion nor the cube were moving, simply floating in eerie silence.
"Allura, can you hear me? Are you okay?"
Keith held his breath, waiting impatiently for a response. He edged his lion closer to hers, attempting to get a visual. Anything to calm his mind and still his nerves.
Nothing.
Hold on Allura, I've got you.
Standing brusquely, he motioned for Shiro to take his seat.
"You're in charge for now, old friend," Keith commanded.
"What are you doing? You're not seriously planning to do what I think you're planning to do," Shiro retorted.
"Just shut up and trust me," Keith smirked.
Author's Note:
Hey guys, thanks for your patience on this chapter. I went on vacation a couple of weeks ago which delayed things a bit, and in the middle of it fell and hurt my hand pretty badly. I can finally type again so, yay, new chapter!
Anyway, one of our keen-eyed fans noticed something from the classic series so after a brief chat we agreed that a competition of sorts would be fun! For each chapter if you spot something from Voltron: Defenders of the Universe, Voltron Force or even an episode of Legendary Defenders, write a comment for that chapter naming any Easter eggs you find. I'll contact the winner prior to the last chapter (the Epilogue if you will) and you'll have the chance to appear in the story!
Good luck and thanks for reading!