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1. Pidge and ConspiraciesFollowing Hunk through a series of canyons with a rigged-up geiger-counter to find some mysterious alien weapon called Voltron after saving the reported-to-be-dead pilot of the space mission that lost her brother and father was not what Pidge thought she was going to be doing after sneaking onto the roof of the Garrison last night. Especially not on the word of some desert-hermit with a conspiracy board, though she had to give credit where credit was due and admit that it was rather impressive. A bit all out, and frantic looking, but she’d give it to the guy. He’d been living alone since Shiro want missing, if his interactions with the older pilot were anything to go by.Which was slightly concerning, now that she thought about it… And Lance said he used to attend the Garrison. How did he drop out? He was obviously intelligent, and a great pilot if his hoverbike skills were anything to go by. What led to him theorizing about the strange energy of nearby cave systems in a deserted desert shack? How long had he even been out there, exactly? Since he was kicked out?And how had he been able to sense the energy, anyway?Which brought her train of thought back to the board in the desert shack. It was basically a wall, covered in pictures and lines… it seemed to signify almost obsessive behavior. And conspiracies, by definition, revolved around secrets and plots…The more she thought about it, the more concerned she became.Pidge glanced sidelong at the raven-haired boy, slotted into the desert landscape like it had grown him itself. Like he had never been anywhere else. Even now, his eyes were never still, constantly scanning the area and checking on the others in the group, coiled and ready.What had happened to him? How could someone with so much talent, so much potential, become this hyperaware, cautious creature? 2. Shiro and the KnifeShiro tapped on the closed, metal door. “Keith? Can I come in?”He barely caught the muffled “yeah” through the wall, but he entered anyway. Just in time to see the boy tuck his old knife under his pillow.Shiro raised an eyebrow. “Sleeping with a weapon? That can’t be safe. What if you stab yourself in your sleep?”The newly-dubbed red paladin shrugged. “Hasn’t happened yet. And I like to be prepared.”“...prepared for someone to attack you in your sleep?”The look Keith sent him was unimpressed. “We’re in a war now, Shiro. It doesn’t hurt to be ready for the unexpected.”He probably should have let it go, but it twisted something inside him that his friend had reason to be this cautious. “We have alarms in the castle for a reason, Keith. Nothing’s going to be able to get to you in here.”“That you know of,” the boy counter belligerently. “Just drop it, Shiro. I’m used to it anyway. Was there something you wanted?”Used to it anyway echoed in his head, but the black paladin wisely held his tongue and moved to sit next to Keith on the bed. “Just doing the rounds, checking in on everyone, seeing how they’re settling in.”“Well, as you can see,” he gestured pointedly to the pillow, and by extension the knife underneath. “I’m just fine. Ready for anything.”“Ready for anything,” Shiro echoed, standing reluctantly. “Of course you are.” He forced a nonchalant smile to mask his worry. “When are you not?”Keith seemed to see right through him, but didn’t comment on whatever it was he saw. “My point exactly.”Shiro didn’t exactly want to leave, but it didn’t look like there was much good he could do here, and he did need to check on the others. He’d just check on Keith later, after things quieted down a bit.But could he really expect anything to be quiet in the middle of an intergalactic war? 3. Lance and TrainingOnly weeks (quintants? or was it movements?) since their arrival in the castle, Lance had run into Keith in the training room after their first team session a total of eleven times. He needled him for this, of course, because why wouldn’t he? His aloof, greater-than-thou attitude got on Lance’s nerves, and so he might as well return the favor.He passed by the door to the training room on his way to the control room and, sure enough, the clanging echoes of metal on metal sounded from the room. Lance made a twelfth tally on his mental checklist, and ducked into the room to make trouble.“Hey, mullet, what did that bot ever do to you?”Ignoring him, Keith stabbed his sword viciously through the training bot’s midriff and immediately spun around to decapitate the second that had been trying to get behind him. Level complete, he wiped his forearm across his forehead, sweat making his black hair stick to his skin, and turned his familiar glare to the unwanted audience. Classic Keith. “What do you want, Lance?”Keeping his smile disarming and spreading his hands, he cocked his head to one side. “Do I have to have a reason to talk to you?”The other rolled his eyes and settled back into a ready stance. “If you don’t, then I’d like to get back to training.”Strangely, Lance’s curiosity was actually piqued. “Dude, how long have you been in here? You look like crap.”“Thanks for that,” he deadpanned. “Not that I asked for your opinion. Now would you mind?”“You’re avoiding the question,” Lance accused. “How long have you been training?”“‘Dunno.” He shrugged, seeming to accept that Lance wasn’t leaving and deactivating his bayard. “What time is it?”“Almost dinner.”Keith blinked, surprise reflected in his strange, violet eyes. “Really? That late?”An uncomfortable feeling simmered beneath the blue paladin’s skin. “How long, Keith?”“Uh, a few hours? I think?” He still seemed startled by the information himself. “I hadn’t even realised.”“You know your body has limits, right? You spent an extra hour in here this morning after team training too.” He threw his hands up in righteous exasperation. “How are you even standing?”Keith had the nerve to shrug. “I have to get better.” He explained simply, and continued when Lance only raised an eyebrow in response. “So many people are depending on us, Lance. I have to be able to fight just as well as, if not better than, the galra. My thing is fighting, that’s what I do, and I need to be able to pull my weight. If something happens…”Lance was extremely uncomfortable with the unexpected heart-to-heart by the time the other finished speaking, and could only shake his head. “Just… come to dinner now. And no more training tonight! You’re no good to any of us if you collapse, or whatever.”“Sure thing.” Lance could have sworn he smiled, but it was gone too quick for him to be absolutely certain. “Let’s get to dinner.”And not ten minutes later the entire incident was replaced in Lance’s mind by the wonder that was Hunk’s cooking in the middle of space. How did the man do it? It was a bona fide miracle! 4. Hunk and Insomnia“Oh. Hunk.”The yellow paladin glanced over his shoulder at the small figure of Keith in the doorway, leaning against the frame in a tired slouch. He waved cheerily and gestured at the food in front of him. “Hey, Keith! I’m making breakfast, how about you come over here and tell me how it tastes?”With a small sound of assent, Keith migrated to Hunk’s end of the kitchen and jumped up on the counter, though just this side of uncomfortably far away, as if he still wasn’t quite sure what he was doing here. Despite his obvious exhaustion, the smaller boy still seemed as tense as a coiled spring. Or like a loaded gun.Hunk shook the comparison from his mind and offered Keith a plate. “I’m trying for french toast, but that’s a bit difficult without eggs. Or bread. Or all of the ingredients for french toast, actually. But I tried anyway, because where’s the harm?” He watched Keith carefully as the other took the first bite, chewing slowly. “So? What do you think?”Keith stopped chewing abruptly, staring at the not-toast hard, as if it had offended him. “Now that’s just not fair.”“What? What is it?” Hunk asked nervously, wringing his hands. “It’s not bad, is it? What’s not fair?”Violet eyes widened and Keith quickly shut down Hunk’s rising panic. “No, no, Hunk it’s great! I mean, it’s just…” He made a huffing sound that Hunk thought might be a laugh. “It tastes better than any french toast I’ve ever had! Which isn’t fair. If I knew that all I had to do to get some decent food was to get ejected into space, then I would have done that ages ago...”The larger boy could only stare, realizing that this was the most words he had ever heard Keith string together at once. He caught himself as soon as Keith began to shift nervously, and changed the subject. “Yeah, yeah. Totally. Uh, what are you doing up this early, anyway?”He ducked his head in a way that Hunk would describe as sheepish if it were anyone other than Keith. “Not so much up early as up late, actually.”Hunk didn’t know how to respond to that beyond a sighed “Oh, Keith. Why?”The plate of not-toast was still on the counter, forgotten, as Keith fidgeted with the sleeves of his jacket. “Couldn’t sleep, I guess.”“Why not?”And that’s when his face closed off and his eyes became slitted, mouth pressed in a firm line that did not encourage further questioning. His words were curt, final. “Don’t know.”But he did, Hunk knew, but since Hunk wasn’t exactly sure whether or not they’re friends yet, he steered back to safe waters and asked Keith to try his not-syrup for the not-toast. The atmosphere relaxed, a bit, but did not in any way return to the semi-comfort they shared at the start. 5. Allura and RecklessnessFoolish, reckless paladin! He was going to get himself killed!“Keith! Get back to your lion, now!” Allura ordered, gritting her teeth.“I can’t do that, Allura!” He protested, continuing his whirlwind attack, only slowed slightly from the beginning of the fight. A blaster wound in his side bled sluggishly as he spun around to fend off another attacker. “Pidge and Lance are still in there!”“Everyone on the team is an able fighter, Keith, you don’t have to take down the opposition all on your own! You’re injured, and you won’t do them any good if you get killed!”“I know, Allura! That doesn’t mean I can just stand back and let them get hurt!”“But you are hurt, Keith! They’ll be fine! Shiro and Hunk are going in after them, but you need to get back to the castle now!”“I’m sorry, Allura,” he said, not sounding anywhere near apologetic. “I’m not coming back until everyone else is with me. The moment I’m in my lion, something will go wrong, I’m sure of it.”“That’s not how this works, Keith!” Allura was becoming exasperated, and opened a private commlink with Shiro. “Are you nearly back yet?”“Hunk has Lance and Pidge, we’re on our way. Why, is something wrong?”“Keith!” Allura exploded. “He is injured, and refuses to return to the castle for medical attention until everyone is back!”Shiro muttered a few words under his breath that the princess was almost certain were earthling curses. “I’ll grab him, Allura. How badly is he hurt?”“I believe he was shot in the side by a blaster.” She answered, allowing herself to feel the tiniest bit of reassurance that someone was dealing with the red paladin. “Please hurry, Shiro.”“On my way, princess.”Allura nearly slumped in relief when Shiro finally carried a semi-conscious Keith into the medbay. Coran hastily got him in a healing pod, and all Allura could think to ask was “Why is he always so reckless?” +1. Keith and InterventionKeith stepped into the lounge and was instantly mobbed by the other paladins, Allura, and Coran. He started violently when Shiro took his arm and pulled him to the couch, but the black paladin didn’t flinch. He pushed him down between Hunk and Lance, sitting across from him as Pidge scrambled into the red paladin’s lap. Keith settled quickly in a defensive glare, almost involuntarily. “What is this?”“An intervention,” Lance drawled cooly. “For our favorite mullet-head.”“Intervention?” Just as quickly as his reflexive anger appeared, it dissipated, replaced by bafflement. “For what?”“For your distinctly worrisome behavior, number four.” Coran informed him, uncharacteristically solomn. “We’ve all noticed it.”“Worrisome behavior?” He echoed, blinking. “What are you talking about?”“Well, your year in the desert, for starters,” Pidge pressed the back of her head against his sternum as she began listing on her fingers. “Isolating yourself for that long isn’t healthy, especially coupled with the obsessive behaviors around that conspiracy board. You hardly sleep, you overwork yourself training, you throw yourself into danger when we’re on missions. Oh, yeah, and Shiro says you sleep with a knife ‘just in case.’” The air quotes around the last three words seemed like she was trying to force lightness into the situation, or at least that’s what it sounded like to Keith. “Like seriously, what’s up with that?”“Yeah, why are you so paranoid?”“We want to help, man.”“We all care for your wellbeing, Keith.”“Tell us what’s the matter, my boy.”“Be honest with us, Keith. Are you okay?”The red paladin shifted under Pidge, uncomfortable with the attention, and heaved a silent sigh. “You’re not going to leave me alone unless I talk, are you?”The answer was a resounding “no” from everyone.“All right, then… How do I explain this?” Keith tilted his head back on the couch, eyes trained on the ceiling so he wouldn’t have to see his friends’ reactions. “My life hasn’t been exactly… nice, up to this point. Meeting Shiro was the first truly great thing to ever happen to me. My mom left when I was little, and my dad…” He swallowed thickly. How could the memory still be this painful after so many years. “He… died, not long after. I was put in the system, passed around a lot. Then I met Shiro, and he got me into the Garrison. “Which I was promptly kicked out of once he went missing.” He barked a short, bitter laugh at that. “I lived in the desert, like you said, trying to find anything to help me find Shiro again, to get the one good thing in my life back. I mean, what kind of luck, my first friend and he gets abducted by aliens.“The desert isn’t exactly a safe place, but I didn’t even think of going anywhere else. I’d lost all trust in any kind of authority, and there was this… presence, calling me. And so I searched.”He lifted his head and pointedly made eye contact with everyone in the room, growing in confidence as he continued. “Meeting all of you is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Let me make that clear. It’s just…” he faltered, but quickly picked up again. “If anything were to happen to any of you guys, I don’t know what I’d do. I’d probably die, actually.”He pressed on before anyone could comment on that. “And so I train, so I can be strong enough. I sleep with a knife so I can’t be taken by surprise. When I can’t sleep through the anxiety I patrol, double-check that everything is safe to try and set my mind at ease. I fight hard, until everyone is safe, because I can’t live with leaving anyone behind. “I know I’m paranoid. I always have been. But I think I have reason to be, you know? Everything good I’ve ever had has been taken away from me, but damn me to hell if I let the universe rob me of another family again.”Silence met this passionate outburst. Keith was breathing hard, tense and ready to take on anyone who would fight him on this. “So? What do you have to say to that, huh?”Instead of answering, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge, as the closest to him, immediately swamped him in a group hug that the other three did not hesitate to join. Soon they were all crying, and swearing to Keith that they would never leave him, and muttering all kinds of assertions that they wanted to protect him too, that they didn’t know what they would do without him. For the first time in a long time, Keith felt comfortable, happy, and, most of all, safe. He smiled, then, warm and authentic, and he laughed. A real, genuine laugh. On the verge of hysteria, but a laugh all the same.Take that, universe. Keith no longer has to fight you alone. He has his team with him now. His family.