Welcome back! I do hope that everyone has been enjoying the holidays. I know I have. Chapter 4 is up. I definitely am needing some feedback, because I am not really sure how this story is reading to other people. I tend to get a little wordy and don't want to end up boring everyone to tears. So please let me know if it's even coherent. I am always looking to improve my writing. Thanks. Enjoy!

"Keith, I want to go with you to talk to General Graham." Allura stated firmly.

The commander shook his head. He walked between her and Lance down the corridor of the Galaxy Garrison headquarters. They had officially handed custody of Lotor over to Colonel Wade and were now making their way to the central part of the main building that housed the offices of the higher ups. He glanced back at the two guards that followed only a few steps behind them before answering. "Allura, it's better if we do this one without you."

"Why?" Allura stopped abruptly, placing her hands on her hips. She narrowed her eyes at him.

Keith stopped to look at her. He had anticipated this conversation and had a prepared response. "Seargents," he addressed the men behind them, "would you give us a minute?" While his security clearance called for armed escorts while on base, he still outranked them.

The two sargeants glanced at each other before nodding. "Yes, Sir."

Keith took Allura by the arm and led her just a few feet away, followed by Lance. He lowered his voice. "Because you are our ace in the hole, Allura. We are about to go into Graham's office and start throwing around allegations that he is not going to appreciate very much. You are a member of the Galaxy Alliance. It is best if you are not implicated in any suspicions that arise."

"So your doing this to protect my stellar reputation? I don't give a damn what the Alliance thinks."

Lance smiled. He loved it when she went all rebel on them. Unfortunately, her rebelliousness was not what they needed right now. He put a friendly arm around her. "Look at it this way, Allura. If Graham decides to throw us in the brig for insubordintion, and that is a real possibility," he shot a knowing glance at Keith, "then we will need your stellar reputation to get us out of whatever mess Keith's about to get us into."

Allura looked from one man to the other, weighing their arguements. "Alright." She finally conceded.

"Good. Hunk should be done helping Wade secure Lotor. He'll be meeting us in the main lobby. Why don't you go and wait with him?"

"Yes Commander."

"Sargeant Meaney, please escort the Princess to the public lobby. Lt. McClain and I will be going on to General Graham's office."

"Yes, Sir."

Allura turned on her heel to walk the other way, followed by the Sargeant. She ground her teeth together as the quickened her already determined gait. She hated just sitting around waiting. Although Keith and Lance had made a sound argument why she needn't be there, she still felt like there was something that she should be doing.

Keith and Lance watched her walk away. "I'm kinda surprised that she gave in the easy." Lance commented and grinned as he noticed her strides quicken. "But she's definitely not happy about it."

"She's a rational person." Keith said. "She knows we're right on this one." They turned to continue their course to Graham's office. He glanced at Lance and smiled. "Good job on the whole bailing us out of the brig thing, by the way. Nice touch."

Lance laughed. "Yeah, Allura just can't handle it when we gang up on her. Hey, we should tag team chicks more often. With your good ole boy manners and my rugged good looks and charming personality, we could get all the ladies we could possibly want."

Keith shook his head. "You are a lecherous dog and I want no part of your conquests."

The insults rolled right off of Lance as he laughed again. "Your loss. I just hope Allura doesn't catch on the to little scam we're running on her."

Their light hearted laughter could be heard all the way down the corridor.

###########

Pidge adjusted his glasses again as Deirdre swerved the car again to avoid hitting the one in front of her. They were on the freeway, but she was driving like she was at Talledagah. They were going to find hotel rooms for the group, but first Deirdre wanted to get her car that she kept in storage while she was off planet. While Pidge was used to flying at high speeds, riding in a tricked out old ass Charger that was moving way faster than it was probably meant to go, scared him to death. She had a speaker connected to her ear and was talking to one of her many contacts.

"Are you sure, Ralphie? Yeah, yeah, we're square. You are the best! Thanks a bunch." She pushed a button on her dash, ending the call.

"Room situation is taken care of. And I think that everyone will be quite pleased."

Pidge hadn't known Deirdre as well as the others. He had been a few years behind them at the Academy, which he had made up for by graduating three years early. He had met her a few times, but most of what he knew was what the others had said about her, which wasn't a whole lot. Mostly by reputation. She raised a lot of hell during her time in the Academy and then as a Garrison officer.

"Um Deirdre, I think that they will probably be in their meeting for a while. There's really no need to hurry." He unconsiously shifted in his seat.

"Not to worry, Pidge. I've made a lot of special mods to this baby. She and I are like one."

"I can't believe they even let you drive this thing. I thought Earth finally banned gas fueled machines."

She smiled at him. "Yeah, I had to convert her. With the trouble I went through, she runs cleaner than any other form of transportation on the planet. And she's faster too."

"I can see that."

"And I'm trying to get rid of our tail."

Pidge leaned over to get a better look in the rearview mirror. Sure enough, there was a black car speeding and weaving through traffic, trying to keep up. "Who's that?"

"I don't know. But I can lose them."

She continued to manuver the car in and out of traffic, leaving a trail of blaring horns in her wake from the motorists whom she nearly sideswiped. The car behind them was doing a good job of keeping pace until the traffic began to thin out.

"Here we go." Deirdre quickly switched gears and the car jolted forward as it accelerated on the almost empty highway.

They quickly pulled away from the other vehicle. It was no match for the speed of the Charger. Once they had put some distance between them, Deirdre swerved to the right, taking a tight exit. She blew through the stop sign and quickly made another right. She continued to make a series of turns until Pidge was sure that they had lost their tail. He leaned back in his seat and let out a long breath.

"You okay, Pidge?"

"Yeah. No worries." No worries except that he might throw up. "How far is the hotel?"

"We actually passed it a while back." She said, making another turn that put them back on the onramp of the highway going the opposite direction. "But now that we don't have to worry about being followed, it shouldn't take long to get there."

Pidge allowed himself to relax slightly, but was more anxious than ever to get to their destination and back on solid ground.

############

General Graham rested his elbows on his desk and templed his fingers. "Let me make sure I understand this correctly. The two of you think that there is a mole in the Alliance."

Keith squared his shoulders where he stood. Lance bristled next to him. The conversation hadn't been going as Keith had hoped. Graham was a good leader and, for all intents and purposes, an honest one, but Keith had a feeling in his gut that Graham was holding out on them.

"More specifically in Galaxy Garrison. We believe that someone is feeding intel to the Drules. It's the only explanation for their knowledge of our whereabouts, Sir."

"Hmm..." Graham was pensive. "And what does Princess Allura have to say about all of this?"

"I haven't voiced my concerns to her, General. Because of her diplomatic station, I felt that it was necessary to keep her out of it."

Graham nodded, but Keith got the feeling that there was something else going on behind his thoughtful expression. "It goes without saying that I take these kinds of allegations very seriously."

"Yes, Sir." Lance and Keith answered in unison.

"Now that Prince Lotor is in custody this really should not be a concern."

"But Sir..."

"But, I will assign a task force to look into the matter." He pushed himself away from the table and stood up.

Keith was appalled. "With all due respect, General, we were hoping that we might be the ones to head up..."

"You do not have the security clearance to lead this investigation!" Graham snapped. "The two of you are still under my command! You will follow my orders!"

Keith swallowed hard and, in his peripheral, he could see Lance biting the inside of his cheek to keep quiet. "Yes, Sir." He finally said.

That seemed to quell Graham's anger somewhat. "Good. Now, your team has statements to prepare for tomorrow morning, correct?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Then I suggest that you focus on that, and let me take care of any leak that may or may not be coming from my military."

"Yes, Sir."

"Sgt. Deckard." He called. A moment later, the young Sargent who had escorted them appeared in the doorway.

"Yes, Sir."

"Escort these men out please." Graham looked back to Keith and Lance. "You are dismissed."

With a sullen salute, Lance and Keith turned on their heels and quickly made their way back into the corridor. Lance closed the door behind them and waited until they were a number of paces down the corridor before he spoke.

"Did you get the feeling that the General was not very pleased with our report?" He spat.

"What was your first clue?" Keith answered.

"Do you think that he will really investigate?"

Keith shook his head. "I don't know. But I do know that things have changed alot in Galaxy Garrison since we've been gone. And I don't think that those changes have been for the better."

They turned the corner and made their way back into the public area of Galaxy Garrison headquarters. The low level offices were located there and made available for public tours. The corridor opened into the main lobby. At the front was the reception desk. Just to the right of it was also a gift shop where tourists could buy sweatshirts and coffee mugs. Now that they were back in the public area, Sargeant Deckard saluted them both and left them there. They spotted Allura and Hunk at a table inside the shop, sipping coffee. They were sitting with two very familiar faces.

"Sven!" Lance smiled taking his friend's hand. "And Romelle," he took the pretty blond's small hand and lifted it to his lips. "it is always a pleasure." He took a step back and looked from her to Allura. "You know, until I see the two of you next to each other, I always forget how much you look alike. Two visions that put every star in the heavens to shame."

Keith and Sven glanced at each other before rolling their eyes. Allura smirked, but Romelle batted her big, blue eyes at him. It was common knowledge that Romelle and Sven were an item, but that never stopped Lance was laying a line on her. And she never hesitated to return the favor. "You never change, do you, Lance?"

He gave her his best grin. "Not if I can help it."

Keith also exchanged pleasantries with his former teammate and Allura's cousin. He should have expected to find them there. Allura was nothing if not pragmatic. She had obviously contacted them. Being left out of the meeting did not mean that she would sit idly by and do nothing.

"How did it go?" Allura set her steaming mud down. She was trying to sound cordial, but it was obvious that she was still irked at them for leaving her out of their meeting.

Keith shrugged. "Not what I had hoped for, but about as I expected."

Hunk took a sip of coffee. "Is he going to let us find out what's going on?"

"Nope." Lance shook his head. "He's going to assign a task force to look into it. Told us not to worry about it." The annoyance that he felt came through every word.

Allura sighed. "Well, what now?"

"We keep our eyes open and watch our backs." He turned to Sven and Romelle. "I suppose Hunk and Allura filled you in on what's been going on?" They both nodded. "What do you think?"

"I think that you are right to be suspicious." Sven answered.

Romelle seemed more concerned that he did. "Do you think that we might be in some kind of danger, Keith?"

Keith rubbed his chin. "It's possible. Hunk, have you talked to Deirdre? Has she made any head way getting us a place to stay?"

"We're all set, Boss. She did mention, however, that they had to shake a tail on their way to the hotel." Hunk reported.

"Well that changes things a bit, doesn't it?" Lance commented. "Someone here is actively trying to keep tabs on us."

"Yep." Keith agreed. Things were beginning to look worse. Perhaps they would have to play their ace sooner than he anticipated. "Maybe we should let Allura talk to General Graham. She can use her pull with the Alliance to get something done."

Allura stood up. "Not yet." Everyone turned to her, surprised. "I think that we should wait. Let whoever this is come to us."

"It's too dangerous, Allura." Keith insisted. "We have no idea who we are up against. At least if we can get Graham on our side, we'll have Galaxy Garrison at our back."

She crossed her arms defiantly, and everyone prepared for the match to begin. "You said yourself, Keith, that the mole is probably in Galaxy Garrison. What good will it do us to put our lives in the hands of the enemy?"

"I'm with Allura." Lance said. "Why not let our little snitch reveal himself to us? If he doesn't think we're worried, he'll get careless and slip up."

Keith looked from Allura to Lance and back again. She had a determined look that led Keith to believe that no matter what arguement he was about to make, it was the wrong one. "Alright, we'll try it your way."

She smiled at him. "Good."

"Can we go to the hotel now?" Lance whined. "I really need a shower."

"I'll say." Hunk snickered, earning him a sound punch in the arm for his trouble.

Thanks for sticking with me. I know this chapter was a little dry, but fear not. Things are really going to get going from here on out.

Please R/R. It puts this stupid grin on my face that my kids have yet to figure out :) Cheers!

Chapter 5: The gang's going to get have a little fun and K/A get to have their own little moment (for all the K/A fans out there...this one's for you), but there will be some angst. I mean, it's only chapter 5. Can't give away all of my goodies right away :)