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-Keith- The first time Keith had met him, he couldn't exactly say he met met him. He had actually just seen him from afar, surrounded by various cadets on their first day at the Garrison. He was lean but had a good posture and stood taller than a lot of kids his age. His Cuban heritage did him no justice with good looks and a way of charming people. He also looked like the kind of guy who should've been a dick on first meet but he wasn't.Keith actually noticed that the first friend he'd made was a big, dark-skinned shy kid who seemed to want to make himself invisible despite his size.He'd forgotten about him until overhearing a teacher one night.
"That Kogane kid is good- as expected on Sir Takashi- but that Cuban cadet could jeopardize his position if he isn't careful."
Keith shouldn't care. He knew that but the real rivalry started the very next day. Most kids had already dropped out of the simulator. In fact, he would have claimed all and forcefully demanded victory in a competition that hadn't been statedIf not for the stupid dickhead beside him who just happen to be on par with him.When Keith had eventually won, the boy sighed and laughed. He offered a tan hand, childish smirk and said: "The name's Lance, Lance McClain, amigo. But the kids call me the Tailor, because of the way I 'thread the needle'."And.. he'd ignored him. And had also thought that his name was Taylor.Now, Keith had to hand it to him- he was determined to make himself Keith's buddy. He'd even gone about saying they were rivals. Keith might not have known how to feel but he felt that being rivals suited them. His face looked like just the sort Keith liked to punch.However, Keith never paid attention to him, only replying with a shrug whenever Shiro had asked him about it. Seriously, that man had been overstepping his boundaries around that time. The next time Keith paid him his full attention was when Shiro and Adam had The Big Fight. To cut the story short, Shiro had a mission he really wanted to go on- a space mission to Kerberos -and he would have been going with Alfor Hime and Coran Smythe- two men he'd grown fond of in his time at the Garrison. Shiro, insensitive prick, was completely dumbstruck when Adam told him he would not let him go. Shiro had a disease (that Keith never seemed to remember til much later in life) and going on that mission would make it worse. To Adam, he would leave him sooner.It was the first time Keith had heard them argue like that when he was right there, cowering behind the sofa's backrest, and it was.. terrifying somewhat. Shiro really wanted to go and had ended up telling Adam that if he wasn't okay with the situation, he could always just leave.Okay, he didn't say it like that but still - that was what it had sounded like. After a long pause in which Shiro reflected over his words and had just started apologising, Adam gave him three options. He told Shiro it was either he went on that Kerberos mission, leaving his side, and they call off the engagement forever, or he went on that other mission General Rodsworth had suggested considering his disease and Adam wouldn't see him until things had cooled off or Shiro stays right where he is - where Adam knows he won't be hurt.When Shiro didn't reply immediately and with the answer Keith had a feeling Adam would like to hear but knew he wouldn't, the latter walked right out and left his ring on the table in their kitchen. Adam never came back and treated Keith like every other cadet at the Garrison.And it hurt Keith (even if Shiro had to catch him crying to hear him admit it cause he never would while sober) when he saw Adam speaking with that- as he had remembered at the time -rival kid in hushed, warm tones. It was then that Keith started reciprocating their stupid rivalry thing.Few weeks into the recently rejuvenated relationship, Shiro had already gone on the mission- hold up.Then, he wasn't sure if Adam ever got to know though he probably did, Shiro picked to go on the other mission- pleasing General Commander-In-Chief Rodsworth greatly. It was a sub-mission to Mars in order to repair one of the land rovers planted by the Garrison. He could also remember McClain being particularly on edge around that time.Where was he?.. right. Few weeks into the recently rejuvenated relationship, Shiro had already gone on the mission and Keith noticed that Adam hadn't been around as much, leaving that McClain kid looking more and more.. forlorn. Not that he cared where Adam went. He did. The Garrison had also begun official preparations for the Kerberos Mission, alongside looking for a good pilot for the mission.Keith wasn't even sure when it happened but General Iverson had come in one day, bearing news that the higher-ups were looking for really skilled cadets since this would be an amazing way to check their progress. Of course, only the best were to be selected so a little competition was conducted amongst the fighter pilots of his year. When he and McClain came to a close tie, Keith had this giddiness in his heart. He was going to be able to go on the mission Shiro couldn't. He already thought of so many ways to rub in his brag.But McClain had won. He had gotten chosen. The worst part was, he didn't even look all that happy. He even looked like he wasn't expecting or planning to win.The last Keith saw of him, after weeks of hanging out with the head of the mission, Mr. Hime and Mr. Smythe and Hunk, was just before take off. He looked so deserving in the gleaming orange and white space suit of the Garrison, beside the Garrison's best scientist, Sir Alfor Hime and his close and private assistant, Sir Coran Smythe. Keith's heart ached and he did not know why. Something in his gut told him Lance shouldn't go. It seemed different from the jealousy he'd felt when he first saw Adam by his side. It was something more and.. seemingly important.You know, Keith learned that his best instincts came from his gut. As Shiro came back from his mission, the news of the Kerberos mission was broadcast.
"Pilot error? Well, I guess the kid was too young."
"That can't be true!", Hunk had yelled. He looked so convinced. He of all people knew how immature Lance could be. So why..?Hunk dropped out of the Garrison. Something about figuring shit out on his own.  --------------------------------- You know, with a past like that, Keith could never really forget about him. That was why when he followed Alistair and Shiro to the rooftop that day, saw the former's alien tech stuff, then saw the explosion and Hunk's diversion then finally, looking through Shiro's binoculars which Alistair had stolen few days prior, saw Lance fucking McClain, the Garrison's youngest pilot to be sent on a mission beyond the asteroid field and who the kids still called the Tailor, lying down there and surrounded by curious Garrison authorities, he didn't see a reason why he shouldn't run without explanation.Lance was the reason why Alistair took this identity and searched for her (his?) father, blackmailing Shiro all the way. Lance was the reason why Shiro carried this guilt on his shoulders, saying he should have gone. Lance was the reason why Adam never came back for him. Lance.. Keith was sure he hated Lance.Funny enough, Lance was also the reason why Keith could feel his body heat even more as he looked at his resting (-though not peacefully) stupidly handsome face as Shiro held him and Hunk tidied up things in the tent.Lance McClain.. just what the hell happened out there for him to have this prosthetic leg?

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

- Shiro - Shiro had been pleased the entire afternoon. When Keith had said that he had given thought to having a team bonding exercise, he felt over the moon. It might have been breaking the Lights Out rules of the Garrison but who was he to complain? Maybe breaking the rules was Keith's way of bonding with his new team.Still, in a way, Shiro's instincts gnawed at him. Was this a bad idea? Shiro really did want to watch Keith grow up into a big boy making himself a place in this harsh world that spun all sorts of lies about love. But the switch was too soon; just a few hours prior, he had been ranting in passionate swears about how much he hated them.Well, Shiro pushed the thoughts past him and wore a proud smile. He reached the bottom of the staircases just in time to catch Alistair step out from behind a pot of plants with a bunch of stuff in his hand.Right- Alistair was coming too. He or she was on Keith's team too as the team's Intelligence Specialist. Shiro winced whenever he thought of him; he had been blackmailing him ever since he got into the Garrison, "to do his bidding", he had said. Alistair had told him about his "situation" and Shiro.. couldn't help it. He subjected himself to the blackmail and lets Alistair do as he pleased enough times.When he saw Alistair, he immediately - stupidly - called out to him."Alistair?"The boy jumped, almost dropping the gadgets he clutched tightly to himself. He turned around slowly and was relieved when he saw Shiro. Shiro gave him a suspicious look."Hallo, Shiro," Alistair greeted him, English accent as thick as ever. It almost sounded fake. "I trust Kogane already told you about the bonding exercise?""He did but what are you-" Alistair cut him short by running at him."Shiro, you know how this works. If we told you one thing and you saw us doing another, it's cause I have something to show you both."Shiro groaned childishly. "Is this still about the signals you said you were picking up on?""Of course!" Shiro squeezed his eyes shut then opened them again, his entire face more compassionate. "Does Keith know what this is for?""No." Alistair looked away for a bit."Alis-""We need to get going, Shiro! You just have to see this!"Shiro was dragged up the staircase and led onto the rooftop. There, Alistair began setting up everything he had been clutching in his grasp. Alistair was not a usual kid, Shiro always noted. He was super neat (with a touch of OCD, Keith would roll his eyes and say) and had a good grasp of technology. Where enough genius kids would have built it and ended up with a messy work, Alistair's was more careful, and as neat as he could get it. He left no wire exposed and caged every circuit. The small circuits, he would apply the little grasp of an integrated circuit he could and encase them. To Alistair, the outside mattered more than it's actual quality because, in the end, and after all that philosophical touch, people were guided by what they saw in one way or another."What're you doing?"Keith. Shiro turned around to greet him. "Hey, bud."Keith looked to him then to Alistair. "Dude, what the fuck?-""Language.""-This again?" Keith finished. He stormed over to where Alistair was walking.. only to be drawn back by Shiro."Tell me you're tired of this shit." Keith looked him in the eye. "It's not in our place to stop him." Shiro, ever the dad, said softly to the boy instead. He let Keith go as the latter huffed.They waited a few more moments when Alistair beckoned them over."I think I've just about done it!"As Shiro gazed over his work of scarp metal and circuits and conductors with awe, Keith scoffed."And what is it that you can do with this.. thing?""Well, Keith, this thing will allow me to scan all the way to the edge of the Solar System! To Kerberos!" The word did not go without a reaction from the other two. "You know, I actually thought at first that it had a problem. The results I was getting implied that the Kerberos mission wasn’t lost because of some malfunction or crew mistake- which is very difficult to believe cause, I mean, have you met Lance?"Keith reached out to run his hands over one of his things only to get smacked harshly by Alistair."No touching my equipment, little weasel. Anyway, that led me to begin scanning the system then I managed to pick up alien radio chatter!"The other two didn't look as excited as Alistair when he turned around to them, big smile plastered on his face. Shiro had this absolute look of worry. Keith lost it."He's crazy now Shiro!" Keith gestured towards the young boy as he yelled."Keith," Shiro warned.Alistair growled and yelled at them to shut up. "It's looking right at you, dickhead.""I'm serious, you guys. And they keep saying, chanting, this one word: Voltron. But this is the loudest they've chanted. It's frantic and excited, as if urging it on, as if the time is near."Keith looked at him then said, "You would make a great narrator of children's stories. Really, they'd love you.""Shut your gob, Kogane- Hey! Last warning." Alistair smacks his hand away from her things. "You run your mouth but are still marveled by my work." He wore this proud smirk on his face to which Keith groaned. Shiro spoke, "And you're sure about this?""Posit-" Alistair's reply was cut shorty as General Iverson could be heard over the speakers.
"Attention, students. This is not a drill. We are on lockdown! Security situation Zulu Niner. Repeat: all students are to remain in barracks until further notice."
Sure enough, something fell from the sky. The three stood still, trying to make out what it was when they saw it crash."That can't be a meteor so is that..?""A ship." Keith finished for him. "It's not one of ours, is it Shiro?""No.." Shiro answered, the two boys gazed at him eyes wide."Then it has to be one of the aliens'! See- I told you they exist."Keith clenched his teeth then grabbed Alistair by the collar of his thin white turtleneck, to which the latter made indignant cries. "We've got to get to that thing!"Shiro pulled his hand away from the other boy's collar. "Keith, wait. We’ll never get past all those guards to get a look. If we can't do anything about it, we should head back to the barracks."Keith and Alistair gave Shiro a look, looked at each other then yelled, "No!""I could hack into nearby camera feed to get us a look from here, give me a moment." Alistair typed away furiously on a computer neither of the others had noticed until then and cried, "Aha!" once he'd gotten in. Shiro and Keith got down onto the roof floor with him to get a good view of the computer screen.The camera showed them the inside of a crowded tent. Right in the middle, a young boy who looked around Keith's age was strapped onto the table and straining against his restraints. He was wearing a skin-tight black bodysuit and, over it, a ripped rag for a shirt. His hair was brown with a stark white patch for middle bangs. The sides of it were shaved though.
"Hey! HEY- you can't do this! Stop!"
General Iverson was unmoved but reassuring. Trying to calm him down, he said, "Calm down, Lance. We just need to keep you quarantined until we run some tests.""General, you have to listen to me! They destroy worlds- aliens are coming!" He struggled a bit more then said, "C'mon! I look too good to be treated like this! I mean, you think I'd give myself a facial scar?""Lance, please." General Iverson once again wonder if his paycheck covered all this."That's Lance alright." Keith rolled his eyes but immediately refocused them on the boy in the camera."Wait- as in, that Lance McClain? The pilot of the infamous Kerberos Mission?" Alistair squinted at him through his wide, circular glasses."Never seen him before?" Keith asked."I expected him to look more like a dick but instead he's going on and on about.. *gasp* aliens?!""He's not dead in space after all.. but where's the rest of the crew?"General Iverson voice broke the conversation. "Lance, do you know just how long you've been gone?"
"Months or years I presume. But why should any of that matter when we could be dead soon? Those aliens are coming here for a powerful weapon. They’re probably even on their way. They will destroy us! We have to fucus on finding Voltron."
"Voltron?" Alistair had no more words.One of the many men in white lab-coats came to him and whispered just low enough for the trio to hear, "Sir, take a look at this. It appears his leg has been replaced with a cyborg prosthetic."General Iverson's frown deepened and said, "Put him under until we know what that thing can do."
"Yes, sir."

"No, no, no! Don’t put me under! No! We don't have that much time! ¡Por favor, señor!" 
Lance slumped.The three of them stared at each other.Alistair was the first to speak and he sounded angry. "They didn't even ask him about the rest of the crew.""Lance might be immature but he's a smart kid with talent and potential. How could they just shut him down like that?""That Lance? Smart? Yeah sure thing, Shiro." Keith remarked."I'm not in the mood to argue with you right now, Keith, but I mean it.""Smart or stupid, we have to get him out. He seems to know something about Voltron.""That sounds like a plan." Keith turned around to walk but was pulled back by Shiro."That is no plan, Keith." Shiro argued. "We'll just have to make one. What if we just used Shiro's authority to walk in there?""Then you'll be caught violating Lights Out.""The drill woke us up?""That won't work on Iverson." Keith snapped. Then he said, rather unhelpfully, "But what will work is going in, guns blazing."Shiro and Alistair both told Keith to shut up and that point. Shiro sighed and muttered, "What we need is a distraction."The adult's words manifested right before them as another explosion happened not too far off. The men at the tent left, seeing the young pilot as no threat now that he was out."The aliens sure got here quick." Alistair used his binoculars - again, where was this stuff coming from - to get a better view."No. Those explosions were a distraction for him. The Garrison’s headed toward the blast, and he’s sneaking in from the other side." When Shiro asked who it was, Alistair just handed him the binoculars, saying he had no idea who it was. It was a big guy with a yellow bandana and a dog. For some reason, the dog reminded Shiro of a black puppy he'd seen Adam buy this one time but never again after that was the dog seen with him.
Adam...
Focus, Shiro!"Wait.. that's Hunk, a past cadet!" Shiro realized, a memory of Lance and him coming together into his head.Alistair whipped his head around and gaped at Shiro. "You mean Hunk, the tech-genius dropout?"Keith winced. This boy was clueless. "Yeah.. you probably shouldn't call him that to his face."Hunk was making advancements with the dog towards the tent where Lance was very quickly."We need to go now or hunk will take him away!" Alistair was the first to react and got up, turning to the others.Shiro hesitated. "Wait- Alis, are you sure this is a good idea? The Garrison would probably interrogate him later and inform us about it-" "No offense, Mr. Shirogane, the Garrison are fucking liars if Lance isn't dead but in that tent. besides, you really think Hunk would just return him? Apparently, they were best mates and I wouldn't sell out my mate like that."Shiro sighed but followed the two teens anyway. He couldn't let any harm come to them and, besides, he had his own curiosities too.Lance McClain was Adam's nephew. He knew those kind of things would have never been a reason for Adam to show him all that care and support if not for the young boy's talent. Lance truly was something of a genius and Adam was going to let it foster for the good of humanity. He even tried to show him that there was family outside home by introducing him to Alfor and Coran. If Adam wasn't comfortable letting Shiro go because of his illness, how could he his little nephew who had become a Junior Cadet recently? He needed to know. And Lance might've had a clue if not the whole story.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

- Hunk -
"Tsuyoshi!"

Hunk whipped around as someone screamed his name. His eyes focused on a young Cuban boy (and his best friend), Lance McClain. He smiled softly and embraced him as he drew near. Half-way through the hug, Hunk had to be reminded of Lance's skinny and somewhat delicate frame when the latter tapped on his arm lightly. He let go and looked him over.

Lance was blushing and smiling - a bright worry-free smile Hunk hadn't seen on his face often - and dressed in proper Garrison pilot armour. His hair had even been done; his mother must've insisted on the undercut he now wore. His helmet was tucked under his arm and the pilot suit made him look a little bit healthier. Really, Lance was so lanky that Hunk always worried whenever he skipped a meal.

"Hey, buddy." Hunk greets finally, contentment in his warm heart.

Lance laughed for a bit. "Well finally. I know I'm good-looking but I was afraid you had been blown away when you weren't saying anything."

Hunk smirked and jabbed Lance in his side. "Uh.. yeah sure but I know one person who would die if they saw you, "Tailor" ."

And, if he hadn't been blushing from embarrassment before, Lance surely was now. For a moment, he gazed silently at a random spot in the wall before suddenly jumping.

"Oh! Right - come see us off, Hunk!"

"What?"

"No time for silly questions, Hunkalicious! Mr. Alfor and Sir Coran are obviously going to miss the genius tech student who helped complete the pod projects and whom they loved to teach personally! You're quite the important guy, Hunk." Lance rambled on for a while before Hunk cut him off.

"Don't forget about the other project where you played the major role in." Hunk was stern but the implication passed between them wordlessly.

Lance didn't look him in the eye. "I really didn't.. just come along!"

Hunk sighed but smiled anyways as Lance dragged him through the metallic grey walls of the Garrison. They laughed as they started to run, telling jokes and recalling memories. Their childish laughter elicited smiles from the few people who still hung back in the hallways. Most of the officers and cadets had already gathered around the launch pad of the spaceship departing that day to say they goodbyes and well-wishes.

Soon enough, the hallways opened up to the clearing at the outskirts of the Garrison premises. They moved through the crowd - which wasn't difficult because obviously people would make way for the pilot of the Kerberos Mission.

Lance dragged him to the centre, past whispers and glances, to the spaceship he was to pilot.

The thought made Hunk smile once more.

Alfor immediately saw them as they arrived and beamed at him.

"Hello, little pilot and hello Hunk." Alfor hugged the later as he greeted.

"Good day, Alfor."

"No now, no need to be so strict my boy!" Coran's Kiwi accent cut through, bright as ever. "We're about to be gone for a while so let's be a bit more familiar."

"Hopefully not for too long." Alfor's English accent was a stark contrast to Coran. The four of them shared a laugh before Alfor turned to Hunk again.

"Truly, it was pleasure teaching and working with you, Hunk." Alfor smiled, Hunk couldn't believe he was getting commended by his role model.

"Alfor's right, mate." Coran piped up. "It's been a while since we met a genius who was still so eager to learn and open to accepting his mistakes. Enough kids your age would be a headache."

Lance jabbed Hunk slightly in his side before going to stand in line beside Alfor and Coran and in front of the rest of the crew.

In a traditional soldier fashion, They all raised their hands in salute. Alfor started with a little speech for Hunk and gave his salute at the end. Coran followed suit, his words cheerful and funny. Next was Lance and poor boy looked like he would cry.

"Tsuyoshi, thank you for always being by my side. For not letting me forget who I am, why I'm here. For letting me test that project for you and assisting as I could in others. For recommending me to the higher-ups, for placing me where I am right now, for.. everything. Thank you for staying here with me and being my brother away from home. You always hold a special place in my heart and I hope the universe would allow us to live out life together, being the best of friends til.. it's over."

"Lance.."

Said boy hurriedly gave his salute and hid his face in Coran's side.

The event went on and, as the spaceship took off with practiced ease, Hunk felt someone at his hand and turned to see a dishevelled Adam to his side.

Hunk's heart hurt. His face contorted and he spoke softly, "Adam?"

When Adam looked at him with sad, bloodshot eyes, Hunk felt like crying for him. He had always been weak to others emotions. Adam smiled slightly and continued to look at the sky.

Adam and Lance had only gotten so close after his fallout with Shiro. It wasn't a good time for him and comforting people had always been Lance's specialty. To Adam, it felt like he'd had to choose between his nephew and his lover - even when everything about the mission rubbed him the wrong way. Everyone had failed to convince Adam that this would end well. In the end, love had won and Adam let Lance go.

"When would someone choose to stay with this selfish man? Why do they all leave?" He had said, while gazing at the sky. "Will you, Hunk? Or do you only wish to get close to my heart and hurt it with your absence?"

...

In the end, Hunk had left after hearing about the mission's failure. It was off. Adam had been right. And "pilot failure"? Was that the best they could come up with? Lance had been a good option because of the way he always put others first. Just how immature had they made him look?

Hunk left to find out the truth. At least, he had bid Adam his last farewell first.
 ----- The black dog went up to the entrance of the Garrison tent and barked. "These readings are off the chart- why the hell is there a dog here?""A dog?""What's a dog doing here?"As the men stood confused, the dog pounced onto them one by one before finally getting to where Lance lay. He growled fiercely and bared his teeth. Just then, Hunk ran in. Muttering a small apology before getting the jump on them, he carefully landed his blows - just enough to knock them out - and made his way to Lance."Lance.." Hunk breathed out as the dog whined in longing. "Don't worry buddy, we've got you."Hunk picked him up a threw his hand over his shoulder, taking note that Lance weighed a bit more than he'd last held him but looked less healthy. How was that even possible?As fate would have it, as he was about to leave the tent, he ran into another Garrison officer. "Shiro..""Hunk? What're you doing here?"Hunk narrowed his eyes at the white-haired boy that joined him. A white-haired boy who happened to look a lot like.. "For the same reasons as you I would suppose.""What?""The Garrison can't have him, Shiro!" Hunk all but yelled. He decided to plea with him. "We could leave together a-and help him get better, ask him what happened.. the Garrison would objectify him and I can't let that happen! Please."Hunk felt like he had been getting through to him when someone else showed up. "No you don't- Don't listen to him, Shiro! We're the ones supposed to save Lance!" The boy had black hair, a bad attitude and no respect."And you are?"He blinked. "You don't remember me?"Ah.. Now Hunk remembered him. He deadpanned slowly, "Keith."Hunk's patience was wearing thin and, when he heard the voices of reinforcements, he shoved Lance into Shiro's hands and pushed them all out. Hunk spoke quickly while moving around the tent. "Since I have more hands on deck, I'll gather some of the data they have then we head out and leave, in my van. It's dusty brown, sort of huge, hard to miss. Now, get out!"The next few moments were a rush. When Hunk got out of the tent, he met the white-haired boy muttering in English to himself, Shiro holding Lance protectively and Keith all but drooling over him with.. a fierce expression. He sighed. The universe must be trying to send him a message and Hunk didn't like where this was going. Together, they headed into Hunk's van with the dog and drove off. Hunk tried to drive steadily while shaking off the Garrison. He often made sharp turns, clearly more skilled at manipulating the desert dust than the adults who should've been driving for longer than he had. Shiro looked at him with a curious expression from the backseat, clearly wondering how Hunk got his license - if he had one.He turned left hard and chuckled as he watched another fleet of cars get wiped out. "Dang.. Mr. Harris just wiped out Professor Montgomery! Oh wait, no, he’s fine. Bummer."The white-haired boy had always cheered him on when this happened. It was the only friendly feeling he was getting. Everything else was a hostile black dog who constantly looked back from his passenger's seat to whine at his half-dead, possibly-still-dying owner, a half-dead, possibly-still-dying best friend, an overly concerned dad and an annoying emo who couldn't hide for his sake the glances he kept giving Lance.Even dying, Lance still managed to look good. Damn, that was one hell of a skill. Focus, Hunk.He turned right hard and came to a cliff. "Shit. Uh.. guys, we might have a problem.""Is that a cliff?" an English accent asked, slightly fearing for his life. "Just jump it.""Keith!" Everyone called his name at the same time - asides Lance who was too busy dying - concern written on their faces.Keith huffed and made his way to the steering wheel."Keith, get back!""Just shut up and trust me, big man!" ----- At least they made to Hunk's place in one piece.Hunk lived in a decent bungalow, near an oasis. It was well-furnished and had piles of gadgets and whatchamacallits littered somewhat neatly every where. Hunk placed Lance in a room and showed the others where they would all have to sleep together. Hunk didn't stay to hear an protests.Before settling down to sleep, he stood by Lance's door and watched him for a bit. His black dog walked past him and leaped onto Lance's bed, snuggling beside him. Right, he had been taking care of Lance's dog, acting as a stand in owner but that dog was loyal and went back to Lance as soon as he saw him. Hunk was sure he would have been happy to find his missing best friend but.. now he wasn't so sure. Lance looked different. He'd put on a lot of muscle, despite still not weighing much and was dressed in rags. His undercut was slightly buzzed but his chocolate brown curls now had a bright patch of white in it but something told Hunk it wasn't dye. The reading's the Garrison had gotten matched his but the symbol on the pod.. it looked weird. Like it belonged to an empire.An empire that was up to no good. And one that comprised of aliens.The dog barked to get Hunk's attention. Right, he should get some shut-eye. He had treated Lance of all his external injuries and he didn't seem to have any life-threatening internal ones at the moment. He would be fine. Hunk just needed to trust that. He walked out and closed the door quietly.Smiling, he remembered the other people that were in the house. He went to check up on them but stopped when he heard voices.
"-Goddamit, Shiro. How can you be so sure?"

"It's okay, Keith. Junk is a compassionate guy. He'll let us ask him a few questions as long as we don't hurt him."

"Why should we treat someone who fucked up like that so politely?"

"Because, everything about this is off. Adam was right."
Keith was quiet for a while. "..He hurt my friend. Our friend." Keith didn't sound like he had a lot of friends.
"And Lance knows how to make things better. He's a good guy and a good friend."
They were silent for a while.
"Will you two shut up? He clearly looks like a victim too. Maybe I've been pinning my anger on the wrong person. Go to sleep Keith. Goodnight, Shiro."
Hunk's heart fluttered. Lance had always been good at attracting people. He wondered what crazy adventure he was about to venture.He opened the door, startling the room's occupants."Hunk did you..?" At Shiro's question, Keith looked away, feeling guilty.Guilty meant a good thing then, Hunk decided. He smile and said, "Thank you, Lance means a lot to me. Have a good night." With that Hunk walked out, closed the door and headed for his room.Just what on Earth had created that monstruous prosthetic for Lance's leg?

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

- Lance - 
Static. In his eyes, the world looked fuzzy, like radio waves were getting jammed. Despite this, he could still see one thing: the stars.

He was in space.. and he recognized the galaxy too well. It was his home after all, barely within the banks of the Solar System.

These stars scared him because they were so.. familiar. What felt like years of seeing this in his nightmares did that to him. But what made Lance finally pale was when he heard his own voice.

No.. this was a memory. He didn't want to relive this memory. At least, he knew he wasn't gonna die- not with this as his last memory. Lance let himself breathe. He was going to see this through to the end. He had to be strong. He has been for Dios knows how long on that godforsaken ship. He braced himself and turned around.

He was not ready to see Coran perched over a floating piece of ice, a child-like curiosity written all over his face. The man looked so.. alive. Unlike the last time Lance saw him.

As if that wasn't enough, Alfor in all his sage might came into view, floating near Coran just before his boots pull him down to the surface. "Easy, Coran," he says, voice so soft and not raspy that Lance wasn't even sure he still recognized it, "The ice is delicate."

Coran just Lance as easily as before they were captured. He never took his eyes off the ice and said, "Don't worry, Alfor. I'll be as friendly as a quokka with this little guy. Though, I must admit it is rather exciting. Ain't that right, my boy?"

Lance- memory Lance -floats over with practiced ease. He peers at it and then smiles. "I think you're a little more excited about ice samples than I am. Can we make it more exciting, then? I am willing to learn." As always, the pride Alfor beams with overwhelms him and he suddenly regrets not mirroring his helmet's visor.

"With pleasure, Lance," the heavy accent on the vowel in his name always got him smiling. Alfor went on with the ease of a teacher, "Why Lance, not only has your remarkable piloting gotten us way farther into the universe than anyone else, we're also about to prove the existence of extra-terrestrial life and dissuade all those stupid beliefs. Why-"

"We'll be the first to meet aliens?" Lance nearly shrieks into Coran's ear. The latter only sighs, bracing himself to go deaf.

"You catch on quick. It's pretty fascinating, really," Alfor now lays a sentimental gaze on the floating piece of ice. "And.. it would complete my life's work." Something catches Alfor's eye, as does everyone else's.

"Don't say it like you're going to die soon; it's bad luck." Lance joked as he made his way to check his face fell as he whipped around harshly. "We've caught up on seismatic activity. We should head back to the ship."

"What.." Alfor glued his eyes to the radar. "What- it can't be..?"

"Run. Come on, we need to be quick." As Lance guided everyone, he noticed Alfor. "Sir? We need to go!"

Just then, a deep voice dangerously similar to a growl cut through their panic. "Emperor Zarkon, we were scouting System X-9-Y as ordered when we found these primitive scientists. I don’t think they know anything useful. "

It was too late, as some of the weird.. aliens? They were aliens..
Lance did not let himself hesitate, they were making their way to a lone and unprotected Alfor. It was too late. "ALFOR!" They knocked the man out.
A different, commanding voice spoke- possibly that Zarkon bitch -said, "Take them back to the main fleet for interrogation. The Druids will find out what they know."

He pushed the soldier away before begging, "Please, we come from a world of peace and mean no harm! We have no arms either!"

To Lance's surprise, they understood English pretty well (Dios knows he was prepared to beg in Spanish) as they snarled but dragged them anyways. They caught him, Alfor and Coran and, when Lance looked like he would rip his captor to shreds, was knocked out by the one holding Alfor.
"LANCE!" Coran's voice and another thud. 
 Hazy, fuzzy memories.

"Look, they brought in another one." A male voice.

Another?

"Who is it?" A female one.

"Over there. It’s another one." Another male, pitch higher than the first.
 Pain. Pain. Dios, lots of it. It was overwhelming- electricity? He had to have been drugged- what was all this talk about magic and-
A prosthetic? He looked down at it through clouded vision. His prosthetic was strange though. It glowed an eerie neon purple (his actual leg white like a star) and it sizzled dangerously against someone's neck. Not a human though an alien.

.. Lance was coming to a blank. His memories of his past time came and went in dreams. Ever since he'd woken up drifting in that pod - still on the verge of sleep - he'd been trying to figure out what had happened after being captured on Kerberos. Sometimes, it felt like he was getting all the clues but, enough times, he still ended up drawing to a blank.

"CHAMPION! CHAMPION! CHAMPION! CHAMPION! CHAMPION! CHAMPION!"

And that, wherever he had been, they called his the champion because he was a warrior. Such a title should have made this useless boy feel exhilarated but only shame, dread and fear washed over him. He was reminded sickly of a beast, a predator.

And then the realization dawned on him. He had failed at being worthy of his title- or he was worthy of it, just that it wasn't something good. The feelings it brought with him always hurt him and he would lull off into unconsciousness. 
 ---"Santa maldita vaca- ¿es eso un gato de guerra? ¡Señor sálvame, San Miguel arcángel-!" Lance woke up with a start and a string of Spanish on his tongue. "-reza por mí.." He breathed the last part as he took in his surroundings. [Holy fucking cow- is that a war cat? Lord save me, St. Michael the Archangel- pray for me.. is what he meant.] He would have said he was at home but it was too quiet. Not the Garrison. Not home. But the room was nice and warm and suited Lance's taste. It wasn't a threat for now. He raised a hand a raked it through his hair, inwardly cringing at the oil and grime he got in his nails. His other hand moved to pet some under it. It was soft and furry and.. barking?Mavi! He hugged his dog close and nestled into his long, black fur. He had grown since Lance last saw him. He stared at the white fur on his face then into his impossibly ice blue eyes. The tips of his fur everywhere was still blue. Lance remembered what it was like to first meet his ever so blue dog. But, for Mavi to have been here, it only meant one thing. Tsuyoshi. The third thing Lance had remembered on that ship was Tsuyoshi. The first two- space and stars, and his mamá. He stared for a while, thinking. He needed to gather his shit. He smelt eggs- human dishes -and decided to go see the only man he's met who put chili peppers and paprika in his scrambled eggs.He gathered all his energy - which really didn't want to be bothered - and went to the door. Loyal as ever, Mavi was at his side."It's probably nothing." The voice confirmed his thoughts."Tsu- Hunk.. " He was unsure of what to call him. He practically called both as he leaned on the doorway, his blue eyes blown wide. Hunk was behind the kitchen island making what looked like scrambled eggs. He dropped it almost immediately on someone else's plate earning a yelp from them. There were three people opposite him. He recognized them almost immediately. Well, most.Sir Shirogane in all his might and Keith forever at his side, then a young lad who looked a lot like.."Alfor?" Lance had whispered it so only Hunk heard. Hunk spared the boy a glance.. no Alfor didn't have a son but were they even male? Maybe the aliens were messing with his head."We.. should talk." They stood on Hunk's patio as he told Lance all about how his mission was recorded as a pilot failure and his crash and how he'd rescued him and the other guys just kind of showed up. He told the other about Alistair, the white-haired boy who looked too much like Alfor (-Alfor didn't have a son. So it was either a stranger with coincidences or Allura playing Mulan) and his flair for tech. He told him how Keith looked more comfortable in his shell and Lance probably shouldn't try provoking him too much. He told him about Shiro who was comfortable with everyone calling him Shiro and how he felt like a father. Lance smiled. Good, he hadn't missed much.Lance asked Hunk how long he'd been gone. Hunk told him it was a getting close to a year and a half now. Lance, in turn explained his memory loss and promised to tell Hunk about the ones he remembered in detail later, restraining it to only information about the enemy war cats, Voltron and a weapon stuck on Earth. After that was over, they spent some time catching up as Lance cleaned up and changed clothes. He still winced at the sight of his prosthetic but Hunk was there. He wasn't alone anymore.When they came back to the kitchen, Hunk looked happier than ever since the trio first met him the previous day and even Lance managed to not look like he fell from the sky the previous day too. He was dressed in an army green hooded sweatshirt and blue denim shorts. His hair had been brushed and well-taken care of. A towel was draped round his shoulders and he wore a dazzling smile. He swore he saw Keith duck behind Shiro."Hey, guys." He waved at them as he sat one stool away from Alistair."Pretty casual for someone who woke up yelling in Spanish." Alistair remarked, obviously looking for an explanation. Lance was about to retort when Hunk buts in."Save the questions for later, Alistair. I'm sure Lance hasn't eaten anything proper since he left Earth's orbit so it's important he eats properly." Hunk side-eyes him and Lance frowned a little. He was never the eating type. Hunk looks back at them. "Plus, it seems we're all looking for the same thing so hurry up." After breakfast, Hunk lead the group to his room and tugged on a yellow curtain on the wall. He revealed a pin board of notes, pictures, drawings and constructions. There was a picture of Lance in his Garrison days with Mavi and Coran. He smiled. Then there was a picture of Alfor and Hunk. Others weren't as intimate or.. good. There were pictures of the Kerberos spaceship, Lance's pod, strange markings that were hand-drawn, a lion, the Garrison's fortress.. amongst other things.They were quiet. Lance saw so many things they needed to address pinned on the board with absolutely nowhere to start from. He let out a sigh, never letting his eyes leave the picture of the Lion. He was glad when someone spoke up first."Hey, these are those strange readings from last night!" Alistair pointed out before looking at Hunk."So we'll start from there." Hunk nodded to Lance as he faced the other three. "These readings match mine." He pulls out a paper from one of his pockets for reference. "They seem to be of a transmission outside our Earth's orbit, possibly outside our Solar System- but that's not important. What's important is-""Voltron. They're looking for it and it's here.""Wait- who? Who's looking for it?" Keith asked, feeling lost even though they had just started."Lance's captors. They're a whole empire and they're coming here for Voltron." Hunk looked at his buddy wearily. "While Lance was aboard their ship, he heard them talk about it. It's a weapon of sorts and I also saw it in my dream." Hunk put up his arms in defense when they looked at him with disbelief.Alistair's facial expression suddenly changed. "Lance? You were captured?"Lance nodded. "What about the rest of the team?""I can't remember much of my time in space but I didn't see them for enough  of it. We got separated but last I saw them.. they were alive. I made sure of that." There was a determination in his eyes that soon faded. "Whether they remain alive.. I can't be sure." Lance looked at Hunk. "That's why I want to go back to space, Hunk. I have to."Hunk frowned. "I know buddy. Lance, we already talked about this, you- you can't. Your family.. they don't know you're alive, Lance."Shiro felt bad for interrupting this but he believed it wasn't something they should witness. "Your dreams? Hunk, this sounds serious, we can't possibly rely on-""My dreams," Hunk interrupted Shiro, taking on a new tone, "seem pretty credible at the moment and.. they're all we have to work with right now so yeah."Putting a hand on the big guy's shoulder, Lance raised a brow at Hunk's defensive tone. That was new. What had happened while he was gone?"I dreamt of this," Hunk pointed at the sketch- a good one -of a lion. It almost looked sharp at its edges like some sort of toy. "and I was lead out here, in the middle of nowhere to search for something well, it. Now I know it's probably Voltron. They didn't show up again til the night I detected something enter Earth's orbit.""How did you-"Hunk cut Keith off, not really looking at him. "I was waiting for Adam."Lance's eyes widened and he swayed on his feet. Hunk flinched at the movement but Lance's smile was reassuring. Adam. Lance had almost forgotten about him. He looked out the nearby window and told Hunk to continue.".. Yeah so.. yeah, that's what we're looking for. After Lance arrived, I started getting leads again. I hope you guys are fine with going out to follow the co-ordinates? I haven't done that already since it.. might be dangerous alone. I wanted to hold off til Adam came back but, now we're here.""Wait, wait- backtrack, co-ordinates?" Alistair looked at Hunk, confused. "You didn't say anything about co-ordinates before."Hunk blinked. "The co-ordinates you found, dummy."Alistair, Shiro and Keith looked at Hunk with further confusion. "You know- oh. You don't know." Hunk started ringing his hands."Hunk," Lance spoke up. "Go on."Hunk's face flushed. "Well, last night, I was rummaging through Alistair’s stuff- yeah -and I found this picture! Look, it’s his girlfriend!" Hunk smirked, holding up a picture of a girl with long white hair beside a man with white hair. No matter how Lance looked at it, that was Alfor and Allura. Well, looked like they were playing it dumb. He snorted and looked at the boy in amusement.Alistair panicked and practically squawked, "Oi! Hand that back, you.. muppet! What were you doing in my things?"The accent was cute, Lance wouldn't lie. Hunk went on, "Well, you were the only one with a back and I wanted to know if you had brought any candy with you. I ran out, like, yesterday. Then, I started reading your diary..""What?!" Lance was laughing a little now."-and noticed you'd written a repeating series of numbers and guessed that was what the aliens were searching for and it looks a lot like a Fraunhofer line.""Frown who?" Keith was getting lost again. Lance chuckled a bit. All those days spent with those Hunk and Coran was paying off."It’s a number describing the emission spectrum of an element, only, this element doesn’t exist on Earth. I thought it might be this Voltron, and, last night, built a machine to look for it, kinda like a Voltron Geiger counter. That gave me a set of co-ordinates, or rather a direction to go looking for it, using the wavelength it gave me."Lance was stunned. He did not see that one coming. He soon started smiling with pride and ruffled Hunk's hair. "Hunk, you big gassy genius!""It's pretty fascinating, really." Lance tried not to wince. Alfor had said that. "Sounds like a plan, team." Shiro said, taking the lead. Team, that was nice. Lance had traded his sweat shirt for a navy blue hoodie, grey t-shirt with a blue V-neck and an army green jacket. Not the weather for so many layers but only Dios knows where they'd be going after finding the lion. He had his MP3 player with him and Mavi to his side as Hunk drove his truck. He glanced back and looked at Keith.The boy had grown a mullet, fitting his emo attitude, and strangely his pretty face. This didn't mean it was a good hairstyle though, it was a terrible one. He then looked at his 'brother', Shiro. He had never really known the guy. He was just Lance's role model and someone Adam loved a lot. At least, Adam got to keep his lover while his nephew went to space to almost die."We're here." "Okay, I admit it. This is super freaky."They walked through the cave and Lance admired the intricate markings on the walls. They seemed to depict slightly different stories of the lion in Hunk's drawing but were all leading to an event."These are markings.." Keith mused, seemingly informing Shiro."The Geiger counter's reacting to something. Whoa, whoa!"Alistair went to Hunk's side to get a look. Lance's hands lingered against one of the markings, musing in interest to himself. Suddenly, all the markings started glowing blue. It was pretty but-"The fuck?" Alistair completed the thought for him. "Is it supposed to do that?""Alistair, langu-aaaage!" The ground beneath them fell away and Shiro's last words were dragged into the puddle with him.Lance recovered from the fall pretty soon but he felt too wet and not in that way.Alistair spoke up, "Is this it? Is this the Voltron?""Maybe. It's definitely the Blue Lion but is it also Voltron?""This is probably what’s been causing all of this crazy energy out here. Looks like there’s a forcefield around it." Keith mused.Lance got on his feet and stared at the huge blue mechanical lion in front of him. "Whoa.."Wait, something felt off. It was watching him. It had to be. "Does anyone else get the feeling this is staring at them?""No?" Shiro looked at Lance with concern."Just me then."Keith walked up to the blue particle barrier surrounding the lion. He placed his hand on it and felt it. "I wonder how you get through this."Lance joined him and shrugged. "Maybe.. you just have to knock?" That was definitely the coolest thing Lance had ever said. With a fwish, the particle barrier fell away under his knuckles. Lance would be lying if he said he didn't powerful in that moment. He could literally feel Keith's confused and suspicious expression.Then he saw an image of a giant, colourful robot with an ultra-cool sword and other mechanical lions just like this one. Almost as soon as it came, it left. He felt something in his head, like a presence. "Whoa. Did anyone else see that?"Hunk's voice was heard next, bubbly and excited, "Voltron is a robot. Voltron is a huge, huge awesome robot!""And this thing- whatever it is- is only a part of it!" Alistair shared in his enthusiasm. As an afterthought, he said, "Wonder where the rest are.""This is definitely what they're looking for." Shiro confirmed. The lion opened it's mouth and revealed a ramp. Lance was about to go when he felt something furry brush his leg. "Oh, yeah, Lance? What's going to happen to Mavi?" Hunk asked.Lance smirked. "What else could happen? He'll come along!" Lance an his dog raced inside. Once inside, Lance headed for the pilot's seat and sunk into it. He looked over the controls as the others filed in going "Whoa! Incredible!" and all that. Lance felt the presence in his head again.He looked over the controls. They were more than he'd ever seen in any spaceship but it was still relatively similar. He observed them and noted what each probably was for. "Hmm. Mmm… hmm… Here we go. Uh? Huh." Lance pressed a button and the cockpit lit up."Whoa." Hunk and Alistair went at the same time. Come on, this was Lancey flying this shit. There should be no surprise if Lance figured out an alien spaceship.Keith watched him wearily but Shiro.. he looked mildly impressed. Like he believed Lance could do this but it was stunning all the same. His confidence went through the roof and Lance knew he was going to have fun."Alright! Very nice!" Lance felt like he had this figured out now. Time to scare these people out of their wits.One look at Hunk's face told Lance that Hunk recognized the Smirk of Doom. He knew Lance was going to do something dangerously stupid."Okay, guys, I feel the need to point out, just so that we’re all, you know, aware. We are in some kind of futuristic alien cat head right now. Lance.. behave." Hunk side-eyed him while the other three exchanged looks.Hello, little cub.Lance flinched. "Whoa! Did you guys hear that?""Hear what?" Keith asked curiously."I think it's talking to me."Not an "it", cub. There is somewhere we need to go. Let me guide your first steps..As Lance listened to the voice inside his head, he looked over the controls. "Hmm… Um… Okay, got it. Now, let’s try this."And with that, Lance sped off, out of the cave at full speed."LANCE!!!" Lance chuckled a bit. He went about experimenting his flight in the large lion. Her movements were fluid and flexible, like he was swimming in water. It felt amazing and exhilarating. It felt breathtaking, like he was flying for the first time again. He was brought back to the cockpit when Keith screamed,"You were the pilot of the Kerberos Mission? You're the worst pilot ever!"Lance scowled a bit but turned his attention back to flying. Meanwhile, somewhere in the Garrison.."What in the Sam Hill is that?" Iverson exclaimed from the window."It appears to be a flying blue lion, sir." Iverson felt his blood pressure spike...."Isn't this awesome?" Sadistic bastard, he knew that's what they were thinking. He chose that moment to do a loop-the-loop.Hunk cried, "Make it stop! make it stop!" as the others held on for dear life. Hunk puked.Lance smirked. "I'm not making it do anything. It's like it's on autopilot- HUNK!" Genuinely, the lion in his head was just showing him around.She told him to fly into space, there were enemies and so he did. Keith yelled, "Where are you going?"He yelled back. He didn't really have a choice in all this. "I just said it’s on autopilot! It says there’s an alien ship approaching Earth. I think we’re supposed to stop it.""What did it say, exactly?" Shiro asked."Well, it’s not like it’s saying words. More like feeding ideas into my brain, kind of." Lance answered sheepishly. Keith glared at him."Well, if this thing is the weapon they’re coming for, why don’t we just, I don’t know, give it to them? We can't beat them. Maybe they’ll leave us alone. Sorry, lion, nothing personal." Alistair had the guts to say. "Not like they're pretty interested in Earth in the first place."This-" Hunk was seething.Lance raised an eyebrow. "You still don't get it? These monsters spread like a plague throughout the galaxy, destroying everything in their path. There’s no bargaining with them. They won’t stop until everything’s dead. You want that?""Good point, nevermind then."The blue lion reached escape velocity and broke through to space and right in front of a fleet of purple ships."Uh… Holy crow! Is that really an alien ship?" Hunk panicked.Lance recognized those ships. The lion might not have been the only thing they came after. "I think they've found me.""We've got to get out of here!" Shiro turned to Lance and shook him before he could zone out."Hang on! Alright, okay! I think I know what to do!"Hunk looked to Lance. "Be careful, man. This isn't a simulator. The Kerberos spaceship wasn't a fighter ship.""It'll be good, Hunk. Let's hope I wreck this like the simulator ships." Lance began to shoot at them seamlessly and the ships blew up."Good job, Lance." Lance preened under Shiro's praise."Okay, I think it’s time to get these guys away from our planet." Lance started flying away again and turned it around.Faintly, he heard a gruff voice that possibly belonged to the commander aboard the ship. "Lord Zarkon, the escaped prisoner and his people found the lion. It attacked us and is heading out of the system."Zarkon must've answered because next they heard, "Yes, Your Majesty. Full power after the lion!"Lance paled right there and then. By the time Hunk noticed and brought him back to consciousness, the ships were gaining on them and he immediately recognised the star map of Kerberos. He'd heard Alistair remark about it, getting there in a matter of seconds where as, it should've taken days. The presence in his head sent a wash of prideful feelings which slightly humoured him. When the swirling portal thing appeared, Lance informed them that they were going through it, much to Hunk's dismay. The group had looked to Shiro for his opinion and he'd answered positively, referring to them as a team. As soon as they got through Hunk puked for the second time."..Sorry."Lance was unimpressed. "I'm just surprised it took this long. Only twice? You've grown, buddy."Hunk looked at him sheepishly then immediately harden his expression when he caught the other three looking at him. For some reason, Lance noticed that Hunk was more hostile. He was still warm but.. kind of detached. Like he felt out of place.Neither of them recognised the stars and Shiro concluded that they had to have been far from Earth. Lance felt a tug towards the planet but it diidn't feel like it was coming from him. He informed the others and noticed that they were crowding him."Guys, personal space. Hunk, you're crushing me."Hunk ignored him. "Um.. it's probably just me but.. anyone else having second thoughts about crossing that wormhole? Why are we listening to a robotic lion anyway?""Got us away from an alien warship, didn't it?""That would've been cool but- in case you haven't noticed -we are in an alien warship." Keith commented. Lance swiveled around to taunt him."Oh, you scared?""With you at the helm? Absolutely terrified."The lion landed as Shiro got them to knock it off. Lance got everyone's attention by letting out a high-pitched fart and informed them of the castle up ahead. Agreeing to go in together and see this through, they walked out of the lion and towards the castle. Mavi got out last and Keith raised a brow."Is the dog coming with us?"The others turned around, having already forgotten about Lance's dog. The owner, however, set his jaw and walked back, over to his blue-tipped beauty. He scratched his ears and then looked up at the others."My last crew got abducted by alien war cats. This time, I refuse to leave anyone behind.. and especially not Mavi." He glanced at Hunk who got it immediately. Hunk picked Mavi and set him on his shoulders. "I advise you guys be en guarde too. I.. won't fail again."Lance felt their attention on him and it made him want to squirm into himself. He looked at the Blue Lion and gazed at her majesty. It was elegant and swift and gave him a confidence he felt he'd lost. A heavy arm came down on his shoulder and Lance tried hard not to flinch and fight. There was no imminent danger. It was Shiro and he had this soft look in his eyes, on his feature, that he'd ever seen him give to Keith. "Lance," He started, "you've been through things a child should have never- only to come back, branded as a failure. I can't imagine what you've seen all this time in space but I can tell it's not good, if that is any indication." He glanced at Lance's prosthetic. "We're here for you, Lance, and for each other. Don't ever feel like you have to carry this guilt alone. I'm sorry.. that you were sent to almost die in my place."From wherever he was, Keith inhaled sharply and Lance stared at Shiro, wide-eyed. There was his role model. There was the man Adam loved. He looked around, at this new rag-tag team and smiled, despite himself. Everyone was like a reminder of a memory- of the memories he'd lost while fighting in space. He was happy. He had hope.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

~Alistair's POV~ Alistair was scared. Actually he'd been scared for a while. From the crash-landing of their half-dead Kerberos pilot, to Hunk the dark-skinned Big Friendly Giant, to Mavi who - no offence - always looked like he wanted a taste of him, to the creepy hunk of metal that apparently has consciousness, to this alien castle.. yeah, lots to be scared about.Yeah so, Alistair was scared - fucking terrified but who needs to know that? - and had been for a while. And now you know why.So as the large metal doors of the castle slid upwards and Hunk decided to go for it and call "Hello?" into the vast darkness beyond, he hid himself slightly behind Shiro. Shiro took notice and provided him comfort.The earth - not as in their home, as in ground - pathway led up to where the large doors had originally been. To either side the rest of the castle expanded in width and, in front was a set of stairs. When they'd just stepped in, Alistair commented, "From the size of the lion, I expected these steps to be bigger."It was then that the systems seemed to come alive and an automated voice instructed, "Hold for identity scan.""What?"The blue hologram scans them over as they stand there confused. Once its done, Shiro asked, "Why are we here? What do you want with us?"There was no response and the halls lit up after that."Whoa!""Whoa." Alistair's mood is completely different. It is now one of curiosity and awe. "I guess we’re going that way.As the team took their steps forward, the lights in the halls lit up on the way - obviously acting as their guide. This made Alistair feel slightly better, because they now did not have to plunge into the darkness and possible death. The walls were metallic grey with neon blue lines running down, most likely points where the metal parts were merged. The thing was that it did not look patchy or rough but rather elegant and sophisticated. The floors were metallic as well; Keith's combat boots resounded with every confident, slightly aggressive, stride. After a while, they walk into a round room, not small, not large, with a raised platform and pedestal atop it in the middle. Lined up against the wall were rimmed circles in the floor.Hunk stepped in first saying, "Hello? Hello? Hello?" Alistair side-eyed him. He's going to get us killed."Where are we?" Lance asked, stepping in after Hunk. The rest of team followed behind him.Alistair came out of hiding behind Shiro and looked around. "It’s some kind of control room." He reasons but then, to control what?Suddenly with a hiss, tubes rise out of the ground from the circles on the floor, lining assumably three-quarters of the metallic wall with them. When Alistair walked up to one, he flinched back, catching the attention of the others."Alis, what?.." Shiro moved to his side. Two of the tubes contained people."Are these guys… dead?" Hunk asked, his voice wavering slightly. Lance didn't say anything but his frown deepened. So two people in tubes, possibly dead. How do we get them open? With a set of controls obviously but where?.. Oh, the panel. Alistair moved to centre of the room and attempted to operate the panel. Hunk moved to his side, providing little assistance with his probing hands.Somehow, the tube's glasses slid open with a hiss, releasing the people trapped inside. Out of the one Lance stood in front of, a young girl fell out crying, "Father!". Her pale skin and honey-blonde hair made her look something out of a videogame. Lance caught her fall and held her up the much he could, careful with his touch. "Woah!" He exclaimed, catching her attention. When they made eye-contact, he greeted her with a soft hello. Was this guy really going in for a flirt right now? The girl stood straighter and looked at him with a hint of panic in her eyes. "Who are you? Where am I?" Her voice rose with each word. Now, Alistair wasn't sure whether Lance was just oblivious or was looking for a stupid way to calm her down because the next thing he said was, in that low voice he uses when he's trying to be charming, "My name’s Lance, and you’re right here in my arms.""Your ears.." 'Weird thing to be musing about,' Alistair noted as the girl carried on, ignoring what Lance had said.Lance looked just as stunned and confused so he stuttered, "Yeah, what about them?""They’re hideous. What’s wrong with them?" 'She did not-' Alistair would have laughed but that was when he noticed the pointy ears, green eyes and honey-coloured pupils. 'Oh, she's an alien'. Lance flushed and stammered out his next words. "N-nothing’s wrong with them! They heard exactly what you said about them!"The girl's eyes had just taken a sweep of the room and she wasn't listening. She took his arm and twisted it round, holding Lance in an impressive chokehold, but Alistair flinched not because of that but because of the way Lance seemed to fight against himself. She shouted at him and looked around the room again, "Who are you? Where is King Sambril? What are you doing in our castle?"Alistair was sure he saw it: the almost feral look in Lance's eyes as his legs tensed and he almost moved his arm then stopped, allowing the small girl to put him in a tight headlock. Tears gathered in his arms from the pressure she put on his back when he stayed silent. "A giant blue lion brought us here. That’s all we know!" Lance looked to the rest of them for help. Beside Alistair, Hunk began stalking forward until Shiro did, motioning for him to calm down. Hunk huffed, clearly not happy with how his friend was being treated."How do you have the Blue Lion?" 'At least she knew what it was, but was it really just called the Blue Lion? A bit unimpressive, no?' The girl went on, "What happened to its paladin?" What was that? Then, lowering her volume, she asked, "What are you all doing here? Unless… How long has it been?"Alistair did not like the way this girl was just talking to herself. It made Shiro uncomfortable too so he spoke up, "We don’t know what you’re talking about. Why don’t you tell us who you are? Maybe we can help."At that suggestion, she looked at Shiro and relaxed a bit, releasing Lance in an instant. He groaned and stretched out his muscles, before casting a confused look to the ground. Alistair raised a brow. The girl said, "I am Princess Katridga (ka-tri-ja) of the Planet Altea, and I need to find out where we are and how long we’ve been asleep." She walked towards the pedestal where he stood. Alistair respectfully gave way for the princess. She pressed her palms to the controls and waited. After a few minutes of frowning, the panels glowed with a bluish hue and the second pod came open with a hiss. Out of it tumbled a young man, older than she was but nearly identical. He was tall with a good form, the same circlet under his hair and dressed in similar funny-looking clothes. His hair was in a low ponytail, a braided piece loose on one side and the one on the other side tucked in the ponytail. His own darker honey eyes swept the room quickly and his teal pupils shrunk. Suddenly, he came alive in obnoxious panic, "Aack! Enemy combatants! Quiznak! You should be thanking the pod that my legs are basically asleep right now. Otherwise I’d grab your head like this, wrap you up like so, one, two, three! Sleepytime!" He displayed a series of the most unimpressive moves, none as deadly as he claimed.Of course, Lance had to match his mood. The boy ordered himself and responded with a playful flurry of stupid action moves but there was something about them that made them look a bit.. He was imagining things. Lance called out, "Well, before you did that I’d... like that." Fill in the ellipses with a weird assortment of grunts, then imagine him looking proud of himself when he was done. Yes, that is what Alistair was looking at.The man went again, "countering" Lance's move set. From beside him, he could hear Hunk sarcastically say, "Man, these guys are good." Because Alistair refused to believe that Hunk thought these moves were anything serious.  "Matt." The man turned as the princess called his name. Alistair thought it might be to reprimand him for the totally uncultured display but the look of dread on her face meant that it was more than that."What is it?""We’ve been asleep for ten thousand years." 
Aha.. what the fuck?
  Huddled around the Sleep Chamber console, Princess Katridga and, judging by what the princess had called him, Prince Matt explained how they'd come to lose their home and people to the alien war-cats from before who called themselves the Galra. They mentioned their leader, Emperor Zarkon (and Matt did this cultural salute thing the Galra apparently did in respect) which Lance confirmed was still around somehow even though he hadn't been in a cryo-pod all this time. Hesitantly, Lance mentioned his captivation by the Galra and being taken to see the emperor, the tension never leaving his shoulders. Hunk placed a firm hand on his shoulder. Again, Lance had memory-loss and could only recall that he was looking for Voltron, the mega super-weapon that could defeat him and was formed by five lions, one of which was the one they'd found.As the princess handled the holographic screens, her brother tried to coerce her into eating from a bowl of hideous green goo. Lance sighed from in between Hunk and Keith. "Man, ten thousand years? That’s like one thousand plus ten." Hunk winced, Alistair snorted and Shiro gave him a wary look."It's one thousand times ten, you dropout. What? Did space take your brain too?" Keith shot with a smirk on his face.Lance gasped and glared at him. The last question might have actually struck a nerve. "You did not-""I haven’t eaten since breakfast and I’m starving." Hunk interrupted, hand on his stomach.Alistair spoke then, "Yeah, but you’ve thrown up, like, five times.""I can’t believe your civilization created such advanced technology ten thousand years ago." Shiro said, bringing everyone back to the situation at hand. "It must have been an incredible place."Matt smiled and looked at the ground. His voice was soft then. "Yes, it was… but now it is gone and we’re the last Alteans alive."A squeak sounded in the room and out of the princess's pod came four mice: one green and yellow, another pink, and the last two blue. Alistair shrieked."Looks like we’re not the last, after all." She says as she cradled two of the mice in her hands and the other two climbed Matt.An alarm blared just then.Matt rushed to the panel and moved the screens around before tapping on something. He gasps and says, "There's a Galran ship tracking us! And they're heading here already!""How the quiznak did they find us?" There was that strange word again, Alistair noted.Lance, having not gotten to deliver his own during their last bout, said with a pointed look at Keith. "I’m not sure, but I bet it’s Keith’s fault.""Say whatever you’ve gotta say to make yourself feel better. After getting us stuck on the other side of a wormhole!" The doofus must have forgotten that Lance could not control the lion back then."I stick you in a wormhole!" Now that was a statement Alistair would not forget."Stow it, cadets! This is no time to place blame," Alistair inwardly cringed at the warden voice Shiro was using on them. "It’s time to work as a team. How long before they arrive?" Matt raised a brow at the term 'cadets' but didn't comment on it. He faced the screens again.It was the princess who spoke up this time. "At their speed? Oh, well, uh, carry the two… I’d say probably a couple of days.""Good. Let them come." Hunk stared at Matt, the expression, 'huh?' written all over his face as well as... the.. food goo? But really, what did he just say? "By the time they get here, you five will have reformed Voltron, and together, we will destroy Zarkon’s empire." When did they say that? Hunk's eyes asked his, panicked.Then Hunk burped loudly. "Sorry, food goo." He apologised sheepishly. When had he even started to eat it?Shiro cleared his throat. He was doing a lot of creating order today; once a warden forever a caretaker, Alistair guessed. "Princess and Prince, there are five of these lions. How are we going to find the rest?""Ah, yes, right this way, please."  Matt lead them to the bridge, a spacious control room with the same alien cleanliness everywhere in the castle seemed to have and a lot of platforms (what was all this platform-ing about, anyway?) and uneven flooring going on. It had the same futuristic look with the occasionally lines of light neon blue running here and there. They stopped at a round table right in the room's middle.As they got there, Princess Katridga informed them, "Our father connected the Lions to Matt's life force since he is the heir. He alone is the key to the Lions' whereabouts.""Was, Pidge. There is no heir without a kingdom, a king and it's people." Matt was leading them so they couldn't see his expression, but they could feel it in the way he squared his shoulders and righted his posture. They could feel it in the way his sister watched him sadly and casted her gaze to the ground, mood dampened. Two siblings stripped of their people and their title by the death and destruction caused by some old senile maniac.Shiro walked up and squeezed his shoulder, not looking at him, letting him imagine a future where they stood by his side as a team, and not alone."Wait, Pidge?" Lance snorted from beside Hunk.The girl blushed and scowled at him. "It's none of your business-""It's a nickname she loves, try it." Matt interrupted. And just like that, the mood lifted. Alistair watched as Lance and Hunk teased the Altean princess and Keith watched them closely, confused by the change in mood but comforted by it nonetheless. This team he had originally thought shabby might.. just work. Huh.Matt stood in the centre, under a fluorescent blue crystal. He activates the main computer, hands humming with that blue colour from before and spayed them, casting a star map around their group. Varying exclamations went around but all where in awe. As Alistair looked at it and observed the constellations, he.. recognised none. It was a map of somewhere else, possibly the entire universe. "These are.. coordinates!" Hunk pointed out from where he was standing, a bit excited. "The Black Lion looks like it's in the same place as the Blue Lion." Indeed, there were little chibi lions where they were, Black and Blue. "Look at your primitive synapses firing away in their little brain cage!" Pidge nudged with a smirk."H-hey!""Very observant. That's because the Black Lion is in the Castle." Matt said."To keep the Black Lion out of Zarkon's hands, our father, the King Sambril locked it in the Castle. It can only be freed if the other four Lions are present." Pidge clarified."As you have found, the Lions choose their pilots. It is a mystical bond and cannot be forced. The Quintessence of the pilot is mirrored in his Lion. Together, they form something greater than science can explain." Woah. The prince continued, "From now, I will try my best to assign the lions according to what I have observed. Do note that-" He stopped himself.Anybody who wasn't already looking at him watched as he brought up the lion holograms. He frowned and said, "Never mind. I will begin."Matt enlarges the Black Lion's hologram by a bit and sends it over to Shiro. "The Black Lion is the decisive head of Voltron. It will take a pilot who is a born leader and in control at all times; someone whose men will follow without hesitation. That is why, Shiro, you will pilot the Black Lion."Shiro watched the hologram in front of him, worry swimming in his eyes. For Alistair, the choice had been obvious, so why did he look so unsure?"The Green Lion has an inquisitive personality and needs a pilot of intellect and daring." Matt continued, enlarging the hologram of the Green Lion and passing it over to his sister. "As much as I hate to do this, Pidge, you will pilot the Green Lion."Pidge's eyes widened, fear and shock in those unnatural eyes. She touched the hologram and breathed, "Father's Lion? But shouldn't you-""Well, someone's got to sit here and play King." Matt smiled at her. "You can do it, and I think the Green Lion will think so too." Pidge quieted at that and just stared at her lion. Everything about her just screamed too young. Getting her actually out there in battle felt wrong, but, hey, she'd been alive for more than 10,000 years already.Next, Matt enlarged the Blue Lion and it even did a little emote, flying around in a few loops before settling down again. "The Blue Lion—""—Whope, hold up, let me guess: Takes the most handsome slash best pilot of the bunch?" Lance interrupted him with what he probably considered one of his most charming smiles and a wink. Alistair and Pidge groaned. Oddly enough - or not so oddly, judging by their conversation earlier - Matt just laughed, and said, "Maybe something along those lines, but I think you're doing your job really well already. Good work, paladin of Blue."It was safe to say that Lance was not expecting that. He stopped for a bit then blushed and turned away. 
What was that face Keith was making? It looks like-
"The Yellow Lion is caring and kind." The hologram of the Yellow Lion was already being pushed to Hunk. "Its pilot is one who puts the needs of others above his own. His heart must be mighty. As the leg of Voltron, you will lift the team up and hold them together."Hunk looked around then pointed at himself in an obvious question. Lance just patted his shoulder and beamed at him.Matt was down to the last lion and neither Alistair nor Keith had been picked. What were they going to do? "The Red Lion is temperamental and the most difficult to master. It's faster and more agile than the others, but also more unstable. Its pilot needs to be someone who relies more on instincts than skill alone. Keith, you will fly the Red Lion.""What? This guy?" Lance made a face and looked at Keith. Keith just stuck out his tongue.Meanwhile, Alistair just stared. So wait, that was it? How the hell did the goofball make the cut and he didn't? But he actually needed to stay in space. He was the only one who actually had something to do here asides the aliens. He was the one with a missing family and he was going to be the one to be sent back home? If not for his alien radio chatter obsession, both Keith and Shiro even wouldn't be here right now. Lance hasn't even seen his family and he, what? Came back then up and left for space again? It wasn't fair. He needed to find a way to stay to just convince them that maybe-"Alis?" That was Shiro, concern in his voice. He had probably zoned out then but-"But, Matt, are you sure you can do everything by yourself? It might be just Castle repairs now - and they are quite many - but.. surely you don't mean to take the lead alone?" Pidge walked closer to Matt. That's right. They just woke up to their entire people dead. There is no way he'd be in the right mental state to function alone. If Alistair could convince Pidge into staying in the castle with Matt, he could get the chance to go into the vast universe and-"Hmm.. well, I wouldn't actually be taking on the role of leader alone. I'd have Shiro, the Black Paladin." Matt looked at him, smiled then looked Alistair directly in the eyes, as though he could see what he was thinking. 'Could he? Was that a thing aliens did?' "But I would need an advisor of sorts. Alistair?"He blinked. 'What?-'"My '10,000-year old Altean instincts are telling me that it's a job you're familiar with, no?" He smiled gently and stretched out a hand. "Um-" Alistair cleared his throat. His voice had risen many pitches there. "Okay, I guess." He took Matt's hand and stepped closer to him. Matt beamed and he managed to see Lance smile, a brow still lifted in question. "Congrats, Alistair." The latino said, "Looks like you just got the most important role out of all of us.""Did I?" Alistair looked around at his newfound teammates. Honestly, he had no idea what to think, asides the guilt at what he had thought to do. Maybe this was him changing for the better, just as Alfor had asked, but did it need to be at his expense? Alistair now turned to the star map, resolving to do the best he could. Advisor to an alien enterprise, huh? Business was about to get funny. It was good, though; he had always been more of a diplomat.Matt let go of his hand and turned his attention back to Keith. "Unfortunately, I cannot locate the Red Lion's coordinates yet. There must be something wrong with the Castle. After 10,000 years, it... might need some work.""Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find it soon and get your castle back to tip-top shape." Alistair offered, standing in between the Alteans.Just then, the holograms all suddenly roared and charged towards the middle where they formed Voltron. The robot stood in all its might and glory before dissipating. No matter how many times he saw it, it was still utterly magnificent. Perhaps they could work on getting a kid's toy to work like that, form Voltron with the tiny cats for some propaganda or something. This was war after all.But business would have to wait. Matt called their attention again, "Once all the Lions are united, you will form Voltron, the most powerful warrior ever known, the Defender of the Universe.""Awesome!""Wait. Okay, we're going to be in there and flying Lions. Got that part. How do Lions turn into legs? Also, is this going to be a long trip? Because I have to pee. Do you people pee?" Everyone looked at Hunk with varying degrees of confusion."You know we don't have much time." Shiro's patience with these people was immaculate. " Can I take Pidge and go after the Green Lion?Matt shrugged. "You call the shots, big man. I won't tell you how to do your job. Just make sure everybody's safe.""Cool, no pressure." Shiro pinched the bridge of his nose in that signature dad way and rephrased his words. "Okay, listen up, team. I'll take Pidge and go after the Green Lion while Lance, you take Hunk and get the yellow one.  Keith, you stay here. If you locate that Red Lion, go get it.""Yes, sir!""You got it, Shiro.""Will do." Hunk responded in a low voice. Everyone looked at him. "What? I know when to take orders." Shiro smiled. Hunk scowled at him and looked away, deflating the former's mood by a bit."In the meantime, Alistair and I will get this Castle's defenses ready and do some repairs. They'll be sorely needed." Matt says, handing Alistair a pair of glasses. He's confused but takes them anyway. When he puts them on, he found that the Altean gibberish had been translated. Woah. "You can freely browse the Castle's systems with the help of those glasses. That is, until you learn everything you need to." Pidge rushed to his side and began showing him a few more things and opening the tabs for him."It was my model." Pidge confessed, proud of her work."Sweet." He quickly got to work with some holographic tabs Matt sent his way, recognising the Artificial Intelligence system in the glasses and promising to explore that later. "In that case, I'll ready a pod and load in the coordinates so that you can reach the Green Lion."Lance and Hunk left for the Blue Lion while Pidge directed Shiro to the pod. Keith stood off to the side awkwardly. Matt placed his arms on a console and it lit up with that fluorescent blue glow. Alistair felt a hum rise within the castle. Was he using the Castle's power? Interesting.' The tips of Matt's hair rose lightly, his eyes closed but lined by a faint white light, and there.Thin strings of white, blue and purple lights met in an intricate swirl in the centre, making the beauty that was the wormhole. It grew in size as the Blue Lion began to hover off the ground, showing that Lance and Hunk had already made it. When it had grown fully, Shiro and Pidge joined them in the pod."According to the Castle's archives, we can only keep the Wormholes that lead to the other Lions open for only two of our Earth hours, so you'll have to be quick about your work." Alistair said through the comms."The good news is that according to those same archives and, hopefully, the current readings, both planets are relatively peaceful. So, if we do get stuck, they could be relaxing places to live out the rest of our lives. Enjoy the trip!"Alistair froze. "Wait—""Wait! What? No! OK—!" Lance beganHunk did not hide his panic. "I did not receive the memo on this.""Do try to make it back, dear paladins. The future of the universe depends on you." Matt said through a smile, waving through the comms.The wormhole glowed as they entered then its light dimmed once they'd left.Keith scoffed from he stood. "Cool, no pressure."This was going to be fun.