Chapter 5 – Going with the flow

Selena watched her brother walk into her room, he looked exhausted and weary. Despite him being a nineteen year old man, Lance's eyes sported this specific shadow of someone who had seen and experienced so much during his life, as if he had to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"Sé, can I use your bathroom, please?" he asked, his voice charged with emotion.

"Don't you have one?" the woman joked, trying to act casual. She had always been this way, trying to act casual when she knew Lance was feeling low so that she could cheer him up without her little brother believing she pitied him.

"I don't have a bathtub and I really fancy a bath right now."

Yup, Selena could tell that he really did feel very low.

"Do you want your greatest big sister to rub your back? Don't be shy, Lance, you're still the same little boy to me, you will always be!" she cooed while squeezing the boy against her, laughing out loud.

"Selena!" Lance whined, already more expressive than when he had entered the room. "Stop it, you're being gross!"

The woman let him go when the paladin finally gave up and laughed with her, and she saw he was already feeling a little better. She gestured to the door which led to her bathroom, almost pushing him, and Lance closed the door behind him.

Selena heard the sound of a lock and she cracked a smile again. "Lance, don't you trust me?"

"No, I don't!"

"Oh, okay… Scream if you need help, I'll be right here!"

"YOU'RE BEING GROSS AGAIN."i

Through the wooden door she could hear his laughter.

Lance let out a long breath and gazed at his reflection in the mirror in front of him. He rubbed his face and stared at himself until the hint of the smile that remained on his lips had faded completely. He was going to break his mother's heart, again.

The pilot of the Blue Lion let his clothes slide lazily onto the floor and he ran a hot bath. The room, filled with steam, soon started to look like a sauna and the blue paladin immersed himself in the comforting, familiar hot water which caused a smile to appear on his lips. He let his thoughts wander away, his eyes closed to isolate himself from the outer world, a soft music playing in the back of his mind that Lance hummed absentmindedly with more and more confidence as his muscles relaxed.

When he opened his eyelids again, the mist was so thick that Lance could barely see around him. He let his palms rest flat on the surface of water and observed the little circles and waves that moved with him.

He was going to miss Earth again, to miss his family again… so why was he so happy to be able to go back up there in space? Why did it feel like a relief when he had missed his current life so much?

"I'm not sure I have a home anymore…" Lance thought out loud. Wherever he was, he still missed a place, a person, a feeling… But from what he had experienced in the short amount of time he had been back on Earth, the call of space was strong, powerful, as a force that would attract him in spite of whatever he would do to try and forget it… Space was to him what the sea was to sailors.

Maybe his home was his team, after all, his second family, the one he had chosen. Sure, he loved his parents and his siblings, and he adored taking care of Nathan and Lilí, but it was different. His dream life would have been to be able to combine the two, but once more it was impossible. He had chosen a life of Cornelian dilemmas.

Lance let out a groan and slid under water, holding his breath for as long as he could, this was to say for quite a long time. He used to play this game when he was a kid, and he could stay under water for almost three minutes before being in need of oxygen, two minutes when swimming if he watched his movements carefully.

He tried to delay the time until he had to face his family again as much as he could, but when Selena knocked at the door, he knew he couldn't avoid fate anymore. The water was getting cold, anyway.

The paladin put on fresh – humid - pants, gathered his stuff and left the room without a look to his big sister. Still humming a song, he went back to his room where Pidge and Hunk were waiting for him.

"But my wife, my lover, my lady is the sea~"

The yellow paladin laughed discreetly, relieved to find his friend in a better mood.

"Brandy, you're a fine girl!" Pidge exclaimed, raising her arm up in the air as if she was answering the question of her teacher. "It's the name of the song, right?"

"I don't know, am I a fine girl?" Lance simpered slyly, with an exaggerated pout to illustrate.

"I don't know, have you ever tried to wear a dress?" the girl teased him back.

Lance purposely avoided eye contact and began to look for decent clothes in his wardrobe, still whistling the same song again and again.

"Will your whole family attend your coming-out?" his best friend tried to joke. Lance glanced at him, his eyes full of panic, and immediately Hunk tried to make up for his lame attempt at lightening the atmosphere. "We'll be with you, Lance. And they will understand. You've saved the universe, announcing your family that you want to help your friends won't be such a big deal."

Lance looked at his friends again, they were so genuinely convinced that it would be fine, the blue paladin almost trusted their judgement. He moved to the door, his hand on the doorknob, and waves of anxiety submerged him again.

Hunk put his hand on his friend's shoulder and Pidge put hers on top of Lance's hand, on the doorknob.

They shot him an encouraging look that made his stomach do backflips.

Obviously, on the day Lance decided to tell his family about his decision to go back to space, Alonzo had to be there with his children…

It was something to face the betrayed looks of adults, including his mom's, but the thought of breaking his niece and nephew's hearts was nearly making Lance sick. He had needed to drink several sips of pure syrup in order to raise his blood sugar and cease the uncontrollable shaking. Pidge hugged him one last time and Hunk patted him on the back, then the two paladins went to sit in a corner of the living-room where most of the McClains had already gathered.

A dozen of pairs of eyes were on the blue paladin when he spoke up.

"I have to tell you all something," he began, already feeling his voice breaking.

"Carry on, mijo, we're all listening," his mother tried to encourage him, but she just made it more difficult. "What do you have to tell us that is so important to you?"

Her nice smile forced Lance to bite his tongue a few seconds to avoid bursting into tears and he took a deep breath, resolutely locking his eyes on a painting on the wall.

Without thinking, Lance chose to drop the bombshell. "I'm going back to space with Hunk and Pidge as soon as we find a spaceship."

Nothing could have prepared him to the chaos that followed. Words gushed from everywhere: on the couch, facing Lance, Aleja was yelling desperately, and her husband was shouting angrily; Selena was making unintelligible noises, Alonzo had jumped from his seat, and his children were chatting together in Spanish, holding each other's hands. Lance's grandmother was shedding tears, supported by her husband and Lisa, one of Lance's big sisters and the almost exact copy of their mother. Sarah, his biggest sister, was shaking her head in disapproval, as if she was thinking that they couldn't trust him anymore, as if it was only confirming doubts she already had. She pushed her glasses up on her nose and shot him a look full of disappointment and anger. In the middle of this chaos, Leo was quiet, staring at his little brother with an unperturbed look on his face.

Lance looked around, panicked, only understanding bits of sentences. "You can't do this!", "…breaking Mamá's heart again!", "… leave us…", "…should be ashamed.", "… so worried…".

The blue paladin closed his eyelids firmly and had no other choice than to shout, his clenched fist pressed against his ears. "STOP IT!" His voice was heartbreaking and his order seemed to be effective, as everyone got quiet, staring at him. Behind his closed eyelids he could still feel the heavy weight of Leo's eyes on him. "My friends need me, my Lion is in danger, I just can't stand idly by and wait for them to find a solution! We are a team! We've gone through so many things together, I can't let them down! I love you all, I really do, and I understand your feelings, but I can't give up on them!"

He could feel his whole body shake and the first tear dropped straight to the floor, marking a clear circle on the formerly waxed wood. He heard a whisper coming from Selena and saw that she was asking something to the two paladins who were still standing in the corner, watching the scene with much concern. Lance didn't know what her question was, nor what his friends had answered, but his sister sighed wistfully before smiling softly at Lance, a sad but comprehensive light in her beautiful ice blue eyes.

"We still can't let you go, Lance," his father declared gravely. "We've worried about you enough during the past two years. You are going to give your mother a heart attack."

Leo was still watching him. Lance paled so much that he almost needed to sit down. Yet, he didn't. He couldn't let his determination falter, he knew his father was willingly hitting a nerve and after a brief inspiration, Lance locked his eyes into his father's.

"This time, I will be able to contact you. You will hear from me. It won't be the same." The trick was to say short sentences, to input as much power as he could into his words.

"Lance, please, por favor, mijo, I'm begging you. Don't go, I couldn't bear it if you suddenly got silent and we couldn't know what happened to you… Don't, please don't. Not again, mi querido…"

It costed so much to her son to speak his next words. "I'm sorry, Mamá, I have to go."

"How can you do this to her?!" The voice was Sarah's, sharp and clear. "Don't you have a heart?! Don't you love your mother?!"

Selena gasped audibly and Leo jumped slightly. He finally let his eyes go away from Lance to stare at their eldest sister, his brows raised in shock. Even Alonzo didn't dare to speak a word, a cold shiver running down his spine. Sarah always had this effect on people.

Lance gulped and took a step back as if she had just slapped him. He opened and closed his mouth many times like a fish out of water, totally out of words.

A voice raised behind Lance, startling him again. "Don't you love your brother?!" All the eyes turned to Pidge who was shaking uncontrollably, her fists clenched in anger. "You don't know anything about him! You don't know anything about what he's gone through, about how much being away from you has hurt him! I know the feeling of being away from the ones you love, from your family! I know the feeling of not knowing if they are still alive! You can't say those things about Lance, I won't allow you to!"

"I agree with Pidge." Hunk intervened, no hint of hesitation in his calm voice. "We wouldn't be here now if Lance hadn't been with us. And he has missed you so much, he was dying to go back on Earth to see you and to tell you he was fine."

The blue paladin gazed at his friends between his tears, barely understanding what was happening.

"I think Lance should do what makes him happy," Lilí said, causing more tears to roll down Lance's cheeks.

"He will be fine! Lance is strong and smart, and he has already fought evil aliens!" her brother added with the same trustful tone.

The two siblings had big tears in their eyes but they were struggling to stay strong in front of their uncle, they wanted to show him that they supported him and that they loved him, whatever his decision would be.

"He'll just have to sing to make his enemies flee," Alonzo joked with a tiny smile, taking his children into an embrace and looking at his mother to reassure her. "Actually, I pity those poor guys."

"I can't let you go, Lance!" Selena voiced, her finger pointed at the ceiling and her stance kept straight. "Not until you've promised to send me photos of your teammates!" she added with a very serious voice. She folded her arms, staying in her role for a few more seconds before she winked at her little brother with a huge grin.

Lance's look wandered to Leo who stared back without weakening. He remained silent and Lance looked at his mother again. She was sobbing into her husband's arms. Her mother, Evelyn, put her hand onto her daughter's shoulder and squeezed it lightly.

"Let him go, Aleja. If he decides to go away in this context, it will hurt both of you."

"I can't stay with you, Mamá. I would love to, but I can't." Lance affirmed while whipping his tears away, purposely ignoring Sarah who was shooting him death glares. "I'll call you whenever I can, I promise, but I can't stay here when I know my friends need help."

He felt Pidge's hand slipping into his palm and he squeezed it gratefully.

"Promise me you'll be careful," Aleja finally said.

Sarah stormed out of the room, pushing Lance out of her way. He knew what this was meaning: "I won't forgive you if you break her heart again", he understood her point of view.

"We'll make sure to bring him back in one piece," Hunk assured with a genuine smile.

The paladins waited there until everyone had left the living-room. Each member of the family either patted the blue paladin or hugged him before going through the door. Leo was the last one to remain in the room. He stood up from his chair and Lance almost thought he was going to pass in front of him without stopping. Instead, his big brother took him into a tight embrace, a huge grin on his lips.

"You've grown up so much, Lance, I'm really proud of you," the older one said in a soft voice.

His little brother stood still, breathless, trying to process what Leo had just told him. Lance's eyes watered again and he hugged his big brother back, tightly.

"Oh, but you're still a crybaby!" Leo teased the paladin while ruffling his hair, a smile full of pride on his lips.

When he finally let go of Lance, Leo left the room and his smile remained for a few more minutes. It was hard to let his little brother go away, and probably disappear again, at least for a while. Leo's heart ached, but he knew that it was what Lance truly wanted, what he truly needed.

"Hey, Leo?"

The man turned around to meet his little sister's concerned gaze.

"We shouldn't worry too much about him, Sé. He's in good hands, and he's not the little carefree crybaby he was anymore."

"Do you really mean it?"

"Don't you?" the man answered immediately.

Selena looked down, her clear eyes shaded by sadness and worry.

"I think he knows what's best for him. And he really cares about his friends, more than he has ever cared about any other person besides us. We should trust him," she concluded with a melancholic but resigned voice.

"Come here," Leo offered with a crooked smile, opening his arms in front of her. She jumped into his arms, focusing on taking deep breaths.

In the adjacent room, the three paladins flopped down onto the couch, leaning against each other in a perfect mess. Lance was still shaking, moved by the support most of his family had provided him and by Leo's declaration, and suddenly he began to laugh uncontrollably.

"It turned out better than I expected!"

Pidge raised her face to look at him, he was the embodiment of relief.

"But what about your sister, um… I'm sorry I don't remember her name." she said, talking about the woman with glasses who yelled at the blue paladin.

"Sarah? Yeah, she's almost never at home, she lives away with her husband. I hadn't seen her for years, actually. I mean, obviously I hadn't seen her for years because we were in space, but even before that she didn't come home very often."

"You don't really seem to be in good terms," Hunk ventured with a cautious frown.

Lance shrugged. "I barely know her, actually. The only ones who really have known her are Alonzo and Lisa, but as Leo, Selena and I are much younger, we have hardly been around her. The only sure thing I know about Sarah is that she loves our parents more than anything. I believe she hates me, now, since the 'Garrison Incident', as they call it."

"She's just worried," the yellow paladin assured while bringing his friend closer.

Instead of saying anything, the girl only let her head rest against Lance's shoulder and closed her eyes. They stayed like that for several more minutes, cuddled on the couch as if to reassure themselves.

Lance slowly calmed down and when he opened his eyelids again, he caught the yellow paladin glancing quickly at his phone.

"Shouldn't you call your parents, Hunk?"

His voice nearly startled the man who stared at him blankly for a few seconds. "Oh, um, yeah, you're right…"

The pilot of the Blue Lion frowned. He had thought this was what Hunk had in mind when looking at his phone, but apparently his mind was on other things and they were making him sad.

"What were you thinking about?" Lance queried, observing the pink spot that slowly coloured his friend's cheeks. The hint of a smile appeared on his lips. If Hunk was blushing, it could only mean one thing…

"It's weird to think that they haven't got any way to contact us, on the Balmera… I wish I could simply send Shay a message when I want to," Hunk admitted with a shrug, pretending it wasn't affecting him although his whole body language betrayed the yellow paladin.

"Hey, you know what?" his best friend started enthusiastically, pushing him gently. "When we get the Castle back and we come home, let's make a detour to the Balmera, so that you can see your girlfriend!"

Yellow's pilot looked away, still blushing and his eyes sparkling at the idea. Months had passed since the last time he had denied being Shay's boyfriend and even if he had hardly seen her more than four times altogether, he was irrevocably crazy about her.

Hunk's gaze stayed on his phone for several more minutes before he actually tapped it and dialled his mom's number. It rang four times, then a feminine voice rose from the device, barely audible for Lance and Pidge. Hunk started nervously pacing the room back and forth, though his smile was radiant when he talked.

"Hi, mommy!... Yeah, I've been at Lance's for a few days now… He's fine, he's fine, don't worry!"

"SAY HELLO TO YOUR MOM FOR ME!" the blue paladin yelled so loudly that he was sure the message had immediately been transmitted. He heard a laugh coming from the other side of the device and a satisfied grin painted on his lips.

"Pidge is here too," Hunk continued as if nothing had happened. "She says hello too. Oh, and Lance finally has a boyfriend!" The yellow paladin glanced at his friend who stuck out his tongue childishly. "Mommy says she's impressed," he informed Lance, trying not to laugh too much – Pidge, however, didn't fight her loud laugher. "No, it's a guy he's met in town, Gabriel… Mmh-hmm… No, not really. At least not that I know of. Um, I wanted to tell you that we'll be going back to space as soon as possible… Our friends lost the ship… I know!" Hunk looked like he was having a great time. "Sure, I'll send you photos. Postcards would be more difficult… Mmh, yeah, sure, if I can!... I hope so too," he finally added with a fond grin, his cheeks pink.

Pidge didn't give any more attention to her friend's conversation after this, feeling her phone vibrate in her pocket. She took it out and looked at the screen, which displayed two messages. One was from Shiro, asking her to keep him updated; the other one was from Matt, and it caught all her attention. Her fingers flew on the screen as she typed her reply.

"Hey, Pidge, who is it?"

She frowned, not even pretending to have been listening, and typed another message which was sent in less than a tick. The phone between her hands kept on vibrating, receiving decades of messages in a row.

"Is it Matt?" Lance asked again.

She seemed to be feverish, a dement look in her eyes, the shade of a smirk lifting the corner of her lips.

"Yup, it's Matt. He's insane. My brother is insane!" she declared proudly. "He's got a plan to get us a spaceship, and it's incredibly dangerous!"

Even Hunk seemed to be accustomed to this word, now: he didn't even cringe at the term, he only let out a weary sigh, as if to say "We're at it again."

"So, when are we going?" Lance queried immediately, his heart racing fast in his chest.

"All we have to do is to pack our stuff and buy tickets to the USA. Oh, and bring camouflage clothes if you have some, it'll be useful."

She typed one last message, pressed the "send" touch and gave the hugest grin to her friends.

The three paladins dropped their bags on the floor, exhausted by their journey. In less than two days, they had packed their clothes, bought some food, found plane tickets and travelled from Cuba to Nevada. Leaving the McClains had been the most difficult part of their trip, and it had ended in tears and shouts coming from every ways. Even Pidge had shed tears, moved by the affection that Lance's family gave Hunk and her, even if they weren't part of the family. Aleja McClain had insisted that they took a whole plate of her homemade roasted chicken and potatoes – which was so big that Pidge was intimately convinced it was actually a baby ostrich. The woman had firmly shoved the still steaming Tupperware's onto her son's chest and had demanded him to go, warm tears rolling down her face.

Pidge could still hear her shaking voice resonating in her head. "Take care of yourself, pequeños! Come home safe, and bring your friends, that's an order!"

"We will, señora!" Pidge and Hunk had yelled back together in response, using one of the only Spanish words they knew. Yet, this little effort had been enough for the woman to burst into tears into her husband's arms.

"It's a promise!" Lance had added in the same shaky tone his mother had used.

Lance's voice brought Pidge back into present, and she shook her head to gather her thoughts.

"Sorry?"

"I said: where are we going to stay for the night? Unless we're supposed to take action tonight, which I absolutely don't agree with," the Cuban affirmed, looking exceptionally tired. His hair was sticking to his forehead and he was standing half bent, as if the weight of the sky was pushing him down to the ground. He looked like he could trip and fall asleep on the floor.

Hunk wasn't looking much better with the huge bags under his eyes and his pale greenish skin tone. If flying a huge robot Lion was okay for him, planes and general means of transport weren't what one could call his cup of tea, and Hunk had been sick for the entirety of the flight and more.

"There's a hotel not far away," the yellow paladin informed his friends, eyes on his phone. "It's cheap but it seems okay, I've already booked a room for us. Two double beds, sorry guys."

"No problem, Hunk," the girl said with a smile, suppressing a yawn. She put her bags on her shoulders, almost collapsing under their weight, and looked at her friend again. "Go ahead, you're the one with the map, we follow you."

Fortunately, the establishment wasn't far away, and their walk lasted less than fifteen minutes. The brown haired young man at the office greeted them with a smile and gave them the keys quickly, aware of the gloomy fatigue aura which emanated from them. He offered to help them with their bags but they refused, probably too dryly than what the poor man deserved. He winced but the smile spread again on his lips. "As you wish. By the way, the breakfast is free for our residents, we serve it from five to eight in the morning. Have a nice night! And feel free to call me if you have any request!"

Pidge eyed him sleepily and thought that this guy was being way too nice to them, he looked like a genuinely kind man. She told her two friends to go first and stayed with the guy – whose name happened to be Rohan – a few more minutes.

When she finally arrived in the room she shared with the two paladins, Lance was sprawling on one of the beds, his luggage spread around him.

"I asked Rohan - the guy at the office - to bring us coffees when he can, we'll need them. I'm sorry, Lance, but we still have things to talk about before we can sleep."

"You drink coffee?" the sharpshooter asked in a voice heavy with sleep.

"Sure I do!"

Pidge sounded midly offended and Lance cracked a smile, his eyelids still shut.

Minutes passed, then hours before Rohan knocked on the door with three coffees. He shyly waved at them while leaving and Pidge wondered if it was the first time the guy met people his age in this establishment. Surely, that explained his odd demeanour.

The waiting had enabled the three of them to rest a bit, and they had taken a nap without realising it. Rohan had woken them up, and even if the three friends felt a bit sick, the caffeine relieved the tiredness a bit.

"So, tell me, Pidge, has Matt also asked you to send him photos?" Lance joked, a proof that he was indeed feeling better than previously.

The green paladin raised her eyes from her phone screen to her friend and blinked a few times.

"Of course not, he's coming with us, Lance."

The boy frowned and turned to Hunk who shrugged, still slowly taking sips from his hot coffee. This sounded like the worst idea ever.

"You were the first one to claim the mission as dangerous, I don't understand why you want to involve your brother," Lance said again, narrowing his eyes at the green paladin as if she were insane. "Adding one person to a high risk mission isn't what I'd call very smart. Pidge, I don't want to scare you but it will be hard to protect him too, even if-"

"Will you shut up for a second, Lance?" Pidge growled, her fists clenched and staring into his dark blue eyes. "Matt is the one to have planned the mission, he's helped me with many issues I couldn't find solutions to!"

Lance sighed, trying to keep his calm. "I get it, your brother is very smart and all, but-"

"No you don't get it!" the girl yelled, leaping on her feet to face him, her teeth gritted so tight that it made her jaws hurt. "Matt has been part of the rebellion for longer than we've been paladins of Voltron! He deserves his place amongst us!"

A tear of rage rolled down her face and fell to the ground, leaving a thin humid mark on her pale skin. She felt Lance's fingers wrapping tenderly around her wrists and he pulled her against his chest, close to his heart.

"I understand, Pidge. I understand."

His voice was soft and warm, comforting, familiar, and she felt Lance resting his head above hers. She had missed Matt so much, for a time so long that she couldn't bear Lance telling her to leave him behind again. His brother was as much a hero as they were.

Pidge hugged her friend back, her fists clenched tight on the fabric of his shirt.

"It's okay, Katie, we'll protect each other, and we'll come home safe."

It was so weird for her to hear her name, especially in Lance's mouth.

"Pidge. It's Pidge, you idiot." She corrected him with a smile.

The sun was about to rise when Matt finally knocked on their door, only to be greeted by two grumpy paladins, and another one who was high on caffeine. Unfortunately, the latter was his little sister.

As soon as she saw him, she jumped and hung to his neck like a kid.

"Brooo~"

Matt immediately stared threateningly at the two men behind her. "What did you give her?"

"She may have emptied all the coffee reserves of this town and the ones around," Lance explained, wrinkling his nose in disgust. Beside him, Hunk scratched his cheek sheepishly.

Matt let out a sigh and ruffled his sister's hair, smiling absentmindedly. He removed her hands from his neck to move freely and put his only – enormous – backpack in a corner of the room. Then, he sat down on the edge of one of the beds and looked at the others with a crooked unsure smile.

"Um, so, has Katie-"

"PIDGE!"

"Has Pidge told you about the plan?" Matt continued casually, still not used to her new name. Using his precious little sister's alias was kind of weird for him, but he respected her choice. She had abandoned her former life, her former identity, and he couldn't blame her for that, actually he understood it very well. Even he was no longer the boy who had disappeared on Kerberos years ago. He was stronger, smarter, and now he knew what life was made of, what captivity meant, what it was like to feel his life being slowly drained away without being able to move. Now, he knew war. And so did Pidge.

"We don't even know why we're here," Hunk admitted with a big yawn. His teary eyes betrayed his level of fatigue but he was doing his best to focus and follow the conversation.

"Obviously, we couldn't go back to the Galaxy Garrison and ask them to lend us a spaceship," Matt began to explain, but he was already interrupted by Pidge.

"Especially after our beautiful photo!"

"This, and the fact that you've hacked their system to enter the academy, then to mock them," Lance added with a proud smirk.

"So we had to figure out where to find an available ship. There, it occurred to me that we had another major problem," Matt continued, stopping to look at his friends one by one, catching their attention as a talented storyteller.

"A technical problem," Pidge hinted.

"The ship itself?" the yellow paladin guessed, as the smart engineer he was. "I mean, human-made spaceships are slow and fragile. They can't travel fast or far enough… At best, it would take us decades to join the others, only if we made it to there…"

"Yup, no known human ship can travel efficiently into space, and leaving the solar system wouldn't even be possible," Pidge confirmed gravely.

"We were lucky to find Blue back then," Lance sighed, looking out of the window in hopes of seeing his Lion appear from nowhere and land in front of the hotel. He missed her so much, but he knew she wouldn't come for him, even if she could, not after what he had done to her.

"So we had to find a way to either find a secret ship which could travel to outer space, or to build up our own." Matt said with the hint of a smile on his lips.

"And what have you chosen?" Lance asked with a frown.

"The third option, obviously!" the soldier declared proudly with a short laugh. "Life isn't about dichotomic choices!"

"We're going to find an E.T. ship!" his sister announced with enthusiasm.

"Wait… you mean… no way!" Lance beamed when he understood where they were going with it.

"We're in Nevada… which means…" Hunk stammered while the colours drained from his face again.

"We're going to The Farm!" Pidge yelled, raising her fist up in the air.

"Dreamland!" Matt added on the same tone.

Pidge had said the truth, it was a highly dangerous mission, which would definitely lead to their death if they failed – in the best case. They were going to break into Area 51, one of the most guarded places on Earth, to steal an alien ship from the government, and use it to fly to an unknown planet where they would join their friends. From there, they would have to use the same stolen alien spaceship, find the Castle of Lions, and take it back from unknown enemies.

It was an insanely mad plan, the probabilities of this mission being a success were about 2% or less, considering they had to find a functional ship big enough to host all of them, including Kaltenecker, and all the chances were that they would die during the flight, or even in Area 51.

Yes, definitely, Lance couldn't wait to start!