Chapter Text
Keith stared at the apartment door after ringing the doorbell, taking in the slightly peeling blue paint. His foot tapped impatiently as he waited for Lance to let them in. Pidge and Shiro were steady presences on either side of him, helping quell any nerves he felt about seeing the inside of Lance’s apartment for the first time. Even if the only reason Keith had been invited over was to help Lance identify the odd object he had found yesterday.
Shiro and Pidge’s knowing looks burned holes into the back of his head. Keith could swear he saw them exchange smirks out of the corner of his eye. Jerks.
The door creaked in protest as it swung open to reveal Lance. Keith’s heart skipped a beat in surprise, but he soon found his expression twisting into a scowl at the bruise marring Lance’s cheekbone.
“Keith.” The curve of Lance’s mouth turned downwards, a slight frown marring his face. The expression only lasted for a moment before transforming into a bright smile. Keith could tell Shiro and Pidge were smirking without having to turn around.
“Hi, Shiro. And you must be Pidge.” Lance turned his disarming smile towards them. “Thanks for coming over to take a look.”
“No problem,” Pidge said easily. “Keith’s got me interested in whatever it is you found, so I’m excited to take a look.” What she didn’t say was that getting Pidge to cancel her previous plans at the last minute had taken Keith some serious groveling. And that Shiro’s sly comments when Keith had asked Pidge for help had given her plenty of ammunition about Keith’s crush on Lance to last her a lifetime.
“Well, come on in,” Lance said, stepping out of the way. “My buddy Hunk came over to take a look at it, but he says he hasn’t seen anything like it before. So hopefully you’ll be able to tell us something.”
Pidge raised an eyebrow at that, obviously intrigued, and followed Lance into the hallway. Shiro was the next to follow, pausing only to place a comforting hand on Keith’s shoulder. Keith only took a second to compose himself before stepping into the hallway. Carefully closing the door behind him, Keith turned around and took in the apartment.
He shouldn’t have been as surprised as he was with how homey the hallway alone felt. The walls were painted a soft blue and were littered with framed photographs. Keith thought he recognized a young Lance featured in many of them, but Keith didn’t recognize any of the others.
Many appeared to be Lance’s family, and populated most of the older photos. Keith found himself noting the shared features between Lance and his family, as well as those that helped Keith distinguish Lance from the rest of them. Many of his presumed siblings had the same freckled skin or nose, but Keith immediately recognized Lance’s eyes and brilliant smile.
After lingering in the hallway for a moment longer, Keith realized just how long he must have been standing there looking at photos. He tore his gaze from the walls and hurried down the hallway and towards the sound of voices.
At the end of the short hall, the space opened up into a living room. Keith stepped inside, but largely ignored the rest of the room in favor of stepping into the room on the right. As he went inside, his senses were overwhelmed with the scent of something delicious and lemon-y.
Shiro and Pidge were sitting with Lance at the kitchen table, and as he stepped fully into the room, Keith saw Shiro throw his head back and laugh at something Lance had said; even Pidge’s small shoulders were shaking with mirth. Lance himself had his hands thrown in the air, using them expressively as he talked. There was another figure in the room, with his back turned to Keith. His attention was focused on the oven, and Keith figured that must be the source of the mouthwatering scent.
Turning his attention back towards the occupied table, Keith saw the exact moment Lance, the only one facing towards the entryway, had noticed his presence. Lance’s mouth split into a wide grin.
“Keith! There you are! I was wondering if you had gotten lost!”
Keith fought to keep from blushing as he remembered why he was the last one into the kitchen and crossed his arms defensively.
“Sorry,” he huffed, unwilling to explain himself.
Even if Lance had wanted to press, Keith could see the moment the focus on Lance’s face shifted, as the lemon-y scent washed over them in a powerful wave.
“Lemon bars are done. They just need to cool now.” Keith jumped at the sound of a foreign voice, having forgotten briefly that the other person was there. Keith turned to see him placing a tray on top of the stove with one hand and closing the oven door with the other.
“Oh man. Hunk’s lemon bars are to die for,” Lance moaned. Keith’s face grew hot at the sound and he mentally berated himself for finding Lance’s drool cute.
“Well, while we wait for those to cool, do you want to see if we can’t figure out just what that thing you found is?”
Pidge sat up eagerly at Shiro’s question. Keith knew she had been dying to get a look at it ever since Keith had called her the night before.
“Oh! Right.” Lance pulled the object out of his pocket and set it on the table. In the daylight streaming from the window, the object seemed innocuous. Once again, Keith found himself wondering why it was so important. What it was worth attacking Lance for. Keith’s fingernails dug crescent moons into his palms as he glared at the device suspiciously. Obviously it was more than it seemed.
Pidge’s fingers twitched on the table and she made to grab for the object before remembering her manners. “May I?”
Lance nodded his consent, eyes following her intently as she picked up the device and examined it. Hunk had moved away from the oven to stand over Pidge’s shoulder and was peering at the object intently.
“Hmmm.” Pidge hummed as she turned the object over in her hand, feeling for any imperfections in the smooth, glassy device. “What did you say this was called?”
“He called it a bayard.” Lance watched her for any signs of recognition. None followed.
Pidge nodded thoughtfully, eyes narrowed.
“I couldn’t find a catch on it either. And it seems to be at least a six on the Mohs scale.” Hunk paused before adopting a very serious expression. “If Lance ever asks to do the knife test, don’t let him. I honestly thought his eye was a goner.”
Lance squawked indignantly and Keith turned to Lance with an expression of barely disguised horror on his face. Never let Lance around a sharp object. Got it.
“Hunk,” he whined, pouting at his friend. Keith turned his gaze away from Lance’s puppy-dog eyes. Even though they weren’t directed at him, Keith still found them difficult to resist.
Pidge glared at the object, as if hoping to scare the secrets out of it. A frustrated expression was quickly taking over her face.
“I can run more tests in one of the university labs if you want. But there’s not much I can do here. There’s no apparent way to open the casing and while it looks like it could be a touchscreen, I don’t see any way to turn it on.” Keith could tell that despite the fact she had no apparent idea what it was, she was loathe to admit defeat.
Lance let out a frustrated groan, before dropping his head onto the table.
“Where did you even come from?” Lance yelled into the table, frustrated, before joining Pidge in glaring at the device.
A loud beeping noise startled them all.
Lance flinched at the sudden sound and Pidge nearly toppled off of the edge of her seat. Shiro jerked violently backwards and Hunk unsuccessfully attempted to hide behind him. Keith could feel his own heart racing. They all stared, frozen, at the bayard, which Pidge had dropped back onto the the table with a clatter in her surprise.
Lance moved first, snatching the device back off of the table and hesitantly bringing it closer to his face for inspection. Keith’s fingers balled themselves into fists. He was sure his fingers were turning white from the force with which he was digging them into his palms. The object had stopped beeping, but given they didn’t know why it had started in the first place, Keith felt uneasy watching Lance hold it.
“Do you guys hear that?” Lance asked breathlessly. His pupils were blown wide and his head was cocked to one side, seemingly listening to something the rest of them couldn’t hear. The rest of them exchanged worried looks. Hunk reached towards Lance gently, as if worried he might startle him.
“Lance, buddy. There’s no sound...?”
The beeping had stopped a while ago. Worry began to creep up on Keith, taking a stranglehold on his chest.
“What? No, there’s - can’t you - do you guys really not hear that?” Lance licked his lips almost nervously. Keith couldn’t help but stare. Honestly this whole situation was more than disconcerting.
There was a moment of silence. No one seemed to want to tell Lance that the device had long gone quiet. Lance seemed to gather what the rest of the group was too hesitant to say from their expressions.
“Oh. Well, it sounds like this… low, constant humming? It’s just there in the back of my mind. It’s kind of like…” Keith could see the frustration on Lance’s face at his inability to properly describe what he was hearing. “Maybe it’s not a sound exactly. It’s more like a low vibration running through my body.”
Keith snatched the bayard out of Lance’s hands, ignoring Lance’s protests. Nothing. If the object had been giving off some kind of vibration before, it sure as hell wasn’t now.
Lance snatched the bayard back and blinked in surprise. “Oh. It’s back. It was gone when you took it.”
Silence took control of the room again until -
“Maybe if you try talking to it again?” Hunk cleared his throat nervously as all eyes turned towards him. “Um, it only started doing that after you asked it a question, right?”
Keith raised an eyebrow, considering Hunk’s suggestion. It was worth a try, right?
“Well, it’s worth a try,” Shiro said, echoing what Keith was thinking. “It was the only thing to get a reaction out of it.”
Shiro turned his head to focus on the device resting in Lance’s hand. “Where did you come from?” he asked, repeating Lance’s earlier question.
There was no reaction.
Keith frowned, then hesitantly turned towards Lance.
“Maybe you should ask it again? It didn’t start beeping until you asked a question, and it only seems to be making that noise or vibration or whatever for you. It’s not reacting at all to anyone else.”
The idea seemed to make Lance uneasy, but he nodded, taking a deep breath. Keith couldn’t help the surge of fondness he felt at Lance’s determined expression. It was the same look Keith got when Lance challenged him on a near daily basis.
Keith cleared his throat, and then his mind, before focusing back onto the device.
“Where are you from?” Lance repeated once again.
This time, the bayard lit up, shock and the sudden illumination causing Keith to blink a couple of times. Everyone leaned in closer to get a better look at the screen.
“It looks like coordinates,” Pidge said, making grabby-hands for the device. Lance passed it over to her and she picked it up to read it more closely. “Huh. I think that’s pretty close to us.” She squinted at the numbers. “Real close.”
Everyone exchanged glances.
“Roadtrip?” Lance asked, regaining a bit of his earlier cheer.
Keith knew Pidge and Shiro were dying to see just where the coordinates led. Keith had to admit he was pretty curious himself. Besides, no way was he letting the rest of them go off without him.
“Yeah. Speaking of roadtrips, I still need to take you back to the school to get your car,” Keith remembered.
Lance waved him off. “My car can wait until Monday. I have to go back to the school for classes anyway. This is so much cooler! What do you guys think we’ll find?”
Keith felt a small smile tug at his lips at Lance’s childlike excitement.
“Uh, guys? I hate to be the voice of reason here, but maybe it’s not the best idea to follow coordinates to who knows where. Especially ones that came from some mysterious device Lance got attacked over.” Hunk’s logic didn’t seem to curb Lance’s enthusiasm.
“That’s why we’re going in a group, Hunk! I mean, you don’t want me going all by myself, do you?” Lance batted his eyes at Hunk, who groaned in response.
“Fine. But if anything goes wrong…”
“Yeah, yeah, you told me so,” Lance agreed easily, standing up to sling an arm around Hunk’s shoulder. Keith could sympathize with the fond, but long-suffering expression on Hunk’s face.
It wasn’t too much longer until they were all piled into Shiro’s car, Pidge grumbling about being wedged between Keith and Lance in the backseat. She stopped when Lance offered her one of the lemon bars he had brought along.
Pidge eyed him. “Do you want one? I think Lance brought the whole pan’s worth.” She gestured towards Lance. Lance had been relaying the coordinates on the device to Shiro, who had dutifully plugged them into his GPS, but at the sound of his name Lance leaned back in his seat and turned to look at Keith.
“Yeah, you want one?” Lance dangled the bag enticingly in front of him.
Keith wrinkled his nose slightly. “No thanks. I’m not much of a sweets person.”
Keith could have sworn Lance’s expression went through the five stages of grief at his reply.
“B- but these aren’t just sweets ,” Lance gasped, scandalized. “They’re Hunk’s lemon bars. They’re tangy and tart and delicious.”
“Lance,” Hunk protested, clearly embarrassed by the praise.
“It’s true! You can’t say you hate all sweets if you haven’t tried this.” Lance looked around the car for backup, before landing on Pidge. “Right, Pidge?”
“They are pretty amazing,” she admitted while rooting around the bag for another.
“See!? You’ve gotta try at least one.”
Keith sighed and gave in with a great show of reluctance. He wasn’t kidding himself though - there was no way he’d be able to refuse Lance when he asked Keith like that.
Keith took the proffered lemon bar and took a small bite . His eyebrows raised up to his hairline at the taste. “These are really good,” he mumbled around a mouthful of food.
“See! I told you,” Lance crowed triumphantly. “Take that, Keith, I was right!”
Shiro chuckled from the driver’s seat. “Well, I’ll take one if you’re offering. They must be good if Keith likes them.”
Lance passed the bag up to Hunk in the front seat and turned back towards Keith. He felt his heart skip a beat as Lance’s gaze suddenly turned focused, intense.
“You have crumbs on your face,” Lance announced.
Keith blinked once or twice, feeling a little unbalanced at the unexpected comment. Embarrassment soon took over his features and Keith scrubbed furiously at his mouth.
Lance’s laugh filled the vehicle suddenly.
“You should’ve seen the look on your face, mullet-man,” he wheezed, bringing a hand up to his face as if to wipe away tears.
“Mullet-man?!” He could hear Pidge and Shiro burst out laughing at Keith’s outburst and he crossed his arms. Traitors.
“You’ve got to admit, it is an accurate description,” Pidge said, giving Keith a shit-eating grin. Keith scowled in response.
“Whatever,” he muttered. “There’s nothing wrong with having a mullet.”
“Except it went out of fashion like, forty years ago. Just because you’re a history professor doesn’t mean you have to take it this far.”
Keith’s indignation at the jab at his hairstyle was tempered by the soft, almost fond look on Lance’s face. He found himself settling back into his seat without biting out a sharp retort.
It didn’t matter much anyway - Lance had begun conversing with Pidge on a completely different topic. Keith relaxed and let the chatter wash over him, occasionally joining in to comment. Similarly in the front of the car, Hunk and Shiro were holding a quiet conversation, though Keith wasn’t really able to make out what they were saying due to Lance’s loud volume; Pidge’s frequent cackles didn’t help much either.
Keith had to admit he was surprised by how well the two friend groups were mixing - it wasn’t something he had expected, but it felt right. Time flew by and before he knew it, they were pulled over by the side of an empty road, trees bracketing them in on either side.
“Is this it?” Keith asked, unimpressed.
“Actually, the coordinates are over there,” Hunk said, finger outstretched towards the treeline while he stared at the GPS.
Great. Hiking. Exactly what Keith had been planning on doing today.
Lance, and a little surprisingly, Pidge, seemed enthused by the prospect. They immediately made a beeline for the trees, despite the fact that they didn’t have any clue where they were going. Hunk had the GPS.
“Hey! Guys! Wait up!” Hunk called, hurrying after them. Shiro and Keith looked at each other before following.
Hunk had quickly caught up to Lance and Pidge, taking the lead while the two peered over (and around) his shoulders to look at the GPS. Shiro and Keith brought up the rear, careful to stick close enough to the group to avoid getting lost.
When Keith turned, he could make out the intense focus on Shiro’s face as he attempted to memorize their route through the trees. Keith immediately followed suit, looking for unique features in the trees marking their path, taking note of one that appeared to have been struck by lightning. Chatter drifted through the trees from the trio ahead of them.
Sunlight created dappled patterns on the forest floor as it filtered its way through the canopy. Keith picked up a foot to avoid tripping on a root.
As they continued through the trees, he felt a tingling on the back of his neck. Something didn’t feel right. A pause in the conversation ahead of him left him in uneasy silence. Despite the warm weather, Keith shivered a little.
“Hey guys? Are we almost there?”
“Uh, yeah. Should be just up ahead,” Hunk responded. He had stopped and turned back towards Keith, a quizzical look on his face. “Why?”
“Do you guys hear that?”
The rest of the group remained silent, straining their ears.
“I don’t hear anything. Maybe you need your ears checked,” Lance frowned.
“Exactly. You don’t hear anything. Shouldn’t there be, I don’t know, birds chirping or something?”
Shiro raised his eyebrows, eyes widening in surprise. “You’re right.”
Shiro moved towards the front of the pack, Keith following close behind, and reached to take the GPS from Hunk. Out of the corner of his eye, Keith could make out Lance squeezing the bayard tightly.
“I’ll take point. You guys follow close behind and be careful. We don’t want anyone getting separated, alright?”
Everyone nodded seriously in response.
When Shiro started walking again, Keith was right behind him. Tension within the group had grown exponentially and Keith could feel Lance pressed up close behind him, straining to see ahead. Keith could swear he felt Lance’s breathing on the back of his neck.
The trees ahead of them opened up into a clearing and Keith blinked rapidly as sudden, bright sunlight assaulted his vision. When his vision finally adjusted, Keith realized that it was not, in fact, a clearing - it was a crater.
“I knew it,” Keith mumbled, taking in the silver craft that occupied the deepest part of the crater. “Aliens are real.”
“How did nobody know about this?” Pidge asked, awestruck by the sight. Something crash-landing in the middle of the woods definitely seemed like a story the media would snatch up. The fact that none of them had even heard rumors about this seemed odd.
“I’m not sure, but we should all be - Lance!” Shiro’s abrupt call had Keith turning to see Lance barrelling down the steep slope.
Keith launched himself after Lance without a second thought. Loose stones and unpacked dirt made for treacherous footing, but Keith didn’t slow until he was standing behind Lance, the ship looming large in front of them. As they both stared in awe, Keith could hear the sounds of Pidge, Hunk, and Shiro picking their way down the slope behind them.
The silver metal gleamed in the sunlight, reflecting bright rays into Keith’s eyes. He raised one hand to block some of the glare, while the other moved forwards to touch the ship. The metal was ice under his palm, a jarring contrast to the warmth of the sun beating down.
“Hey guys? It looks like there’s a door over here. Or an outline of a door at least, I guess.”
Keith pulled his hand back. He and Lance followed the sound of Hunk’s voice around to the side of the ship, where Hunk, Pidge, and Shiro had gathered. Pidge was tracing an outline of what appeared to be a door, while Hunk and Shiro searched either side. If this really was a door, then there was no apparent way to make it open.
“I wonder how we open it,” Keith mused aloud, reaching out a hand to brush the cool metal.
Out of the corner of his eye, Keith saw Lance step forward so that he was standing right in front of the door.
“Maybe you just have to knock.”
Lance raised his right hand and rapped twice, creating a reverberating sound.
For a split second nothing happened.
The device clutched in Lance’s left hand erupted into a bright blue glow and the door slid seamlessly into the wall next to it. Keith stared at the newly created doorway, straining to see anything in the darkness ahead of them.
“Whoa,” Pidge breathed.
Keith could see her inching forwards towards the opening. Shiro stepped forward until he was in the front of the group.
“Keep your guard up. And stick together - we don’t know what’s in there,” he said seriously. Keith gave Shiro a short nod in response, hand instinctively moving towards where he kept his pocket knife.
When they all stepped into the ship, it took a moment for Keith’s eyes to adjust to the gloom. The only source of light came from the entryway behind them.
“Hello?” Hunk called out, his voice echoing in the empty room. Everyone turned to stare at him incredulously, to which Hunk responded by shrugging his shoulders.
“From the size of the ship, I expected the rooms to be a bit bigger,” Pidge mused aloud.
Keith was about to respond, but there was a suddenly blinding light, as the ship’s overheads turned on.
“Hold for identity scan.” The computerized voice sounded like it was coming from somewhere above them
In addition to the bright, blue beams of light that seemed to be directed at them from overhead, Keith could see the floor around their feet beginning to light up too.
“What?” Pidge asked, looking up towards the source of the voice.
“Why are we here? What do you want with us?” Shiro demanded.
There was no response, but lights along the wall began to light up, creating an obvious path down the hallway.
“I guess we’re going that way,” Pidge said, stepping forward.
The walk down the hallway took longer than Keith expected; he hadn’t thought that the ship was big enough for them to wander this long. Either the ship was bigger on the inside than it seemed (which was pretty damn large), or this was an example of more futuristic alien technology at work. Keith hoped it was the latter.
Finally the lights stopped in front of another doorway, which this time opened without prompting. The room was large and circular, but most notably, it was almost completely empty.
“Where are we?” Lance asked, as they walked into the center of the room. Pidge beelined for what appeared to be a control panel placed in the center.
“It’s some kind of control room.” As Pidge spoke, a symbol on the panel lit up, and Keith and the others turned towards a soft whirring sound.
Something was rising out of the floor; Keith could make out a vaguely humanoid shape in what appeared to be some kind of pod. A second pod rose out of the floor next to the first.
“Are these guys… dead?” Hunk asked from where he was crouched behind the control panel.
The first pod began to glow, its front sliding away and revealing a girl within. Keith only had a moment to take in her white hair and dark skin, before she gasped, eyes flying open.
“Father!” She had what sounded like a British accent, which seemed a little odd for a presumed alien - not to mention the fact that she was speaking English in the first place. Keith was musing on the idea of a universal translator when the girl began to fall forward. Naturally Lance, the closest out of all of them, rushed forwards to catch her.
Keith couldn’t help the scowl on his face as she clutched at Lance’s arms, raising her head to look at Lance’s face. Keith crossed his arms in front of him as he made out the tell-tale blush on Lance’s face at the proximity.
“Hello,” Lance grinned.
“Who are you? Where am I?”
“I’m Lance, and you’re right here in my arms,” Lance responded smoothly.
Keith was pleased to see the girl simply raise an eyebrow at Lance’s flirtatious answer.
“Your clothes…”
“Yeah?”
“They’re hideous. When am I?” she asked, wrinkling her nose. Keith felt himself relax slightly.
“What do you mean they’re hideous!? They’re the current fashion I’ll have you know!” Lance shouted, obviously offended by her digs at his clothing.
In a split second, she flipped Lance around, gripping onto one of his ears and his arms until he was kneeling on the ground in obvious pain at the hold she had on him. Keith made to make a step forward, but was stopped by Shiro who was watching cautiously.
“Who are you? Where’s Alfor? And what are you doing in my time ship?” she demanded.
“This weird bayard-thing brought us here. That’s all we know,” Lance responded quickly. Keith could make out pinpricks of tears in the corners of Lance’s eyes at the grip and felt anger burn in his veins.
Keith could see the girl’s grip loosen slightly.
“You have the bayard? It chose you as its paladin?” She let go of Lance completely. Lance stood up, rubbing at his ear and eyeing her warily.
“When am I?” she asked again.
Shiro stepped forward.
“We’re not sure what you mean, but it’s March 29th.”
She shook her head at Shiro. “No. I mean what year is it?”
Keith exchanged glances with Shiro.
“It’s 2017,” Shiro said slowly. “Why don’t you tell us who you are. Maybe we can help you.”
Her eyes widened in horror as Shiro spoke before adopting a serious expression. “My name is Allura. And we’ve been sent 1000 years into the past.”
“-in the past?”
“1000 years?!”
“We?”
The last question seemed to jolt Allura into action.
“Coran!” she exclaimed, before striding purposefully towards the control panel. She placed both hands on two panels on either side. They both glowed a bright blue, and a holographic screen projected from the center.
“Okay, that’s how that works,” Pidge muttered, watching Allura work the control panel in fascination.
The second pod began to glow and, like the first, opened. This time, a red-headed man with an impressive moustache was revealed. He let out a gasp, and then screamed.
“Enemy combatants!” he hollered, leaping forward at Lance. Lance ducked his attack and stepped the side, giving the man an odd look.
“You’re lucky I have a case of the old ‘sleep-chamber knees’,” he said. “Otherwise-”
“Coran!” Everyone swiveled their head to look at Allura.
“We’ve crashed landed one thousand years into the past. Father…” Keith could see the obvious pain in her eyes. “Coran, father is…”
Her grief quickly turned to anger.
“Zarkon,” she spat. Allura narrowed her eyes in determination. “No. I will not let him win.”
She turned towards Lance, thoughtful. “You say a bayard chose you. Perhaps…” Her eyes roved the rest of the group before turning back towards Lance. “Which bayard was it exactly?”
Lance didn’t appear to know how to answer, and simply held out the bayard for Allura to examine. When she took it from him, the bayard glowed with the same blue light it had earlier.
“The blue bayard. I see,” she said as she passed the device back to Lance. Allura seemed to be considering Lance in a new light.
“Wait, just what is this thing? Why would someone attack me over it?”
“And just who is Zarkon?” Shiro asked. There was a troubled look on his face at the mention of the name that had Keith wondering if Shiro had encountered it before.
Allura looked to Coran, who nodded once, before taking a deep breath and turning back towards the group.
“The bayard is, simply put, a device designed to aid time travelers. My father and Coran created five, each to be given to one of five paladins.”
“Paladins?” Pidge echoed, interrupting Allura. Her head was tilted as she looked up at Allura. Keith could see traces of the same curiosity echoed in the faces of everyone else; Lance had leaned forward in excitement at the words “time travelers”.
“Yes. Chosen to protect history from those using time travel for their own gain. Zarkon…,” Allura swallowed heavily, her face twisting as though it was physically painful to speak,”...was the former black paladin. He attempted to seize the bayards for himself and in his attack, the bayards were scattered across history. Until you found one of them,” she said, nodding towards Lance.
Allura’s eyes swept across the rest of the group and she seemed to have made a decision. “The blue bayard has bonded with Lance, and I suspect the rest of you may be paladin candidates as well. We must find the other bayards before Zarkon is able to locate them and prevent him from destroying the future.”
“You want us to travel through time and help you save the future?” Shiro asked a bit skeptically. Keith exchanged a look with Pidge.
“You must.” Allura’s eyes blazed. “Lance has already been chosen to become a paladin - he is duty bound. And I suspect Zarkon has few qualms about changing history to suit his plans. It will not only be the future you’ll be saving - you’ll be preserving your own timeline.”
Lance recoiled slightly and Keith felt a surge of indignation. Lance had never asked to be drafted into some war spanning time itself and opened his mouth to tell Allura exactly that. Lance seemed to sense what Keith was going to do and gave Keith a gentle smile.
“It’s fine,” he said softly. Keith simmered silently, instead narrowing his eyes at Allura.
“I mean, you can’t tell me you’ve never wanted to time travel, right? We’re history professors, this is the opportunity of a lifetime. Not to mention, I get to be a hero, right Princess?” Despite Lance’s apparent bravado, there was an undercurrent of nervous tension that had Keith frowning.
“Princess?” Allura’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
“Yeah. Princess. It’s a nickname. Seems fitting to me,” Lance shrugged, much more at ease with this topic of conversation.
“Oh. Well, alright then.” Allura still seemed a bit perplexed by the nickname, but pushed forward anyway.
“So?” she asked the rest, placing her hands on her hips. “Will you become paladins and help me save the future?”
“I’m in,” Keith said without hesitation. Shiro blinked briefly, a little surprised at Keith’s easy agreement. In all honesty, he shouldn’t have been that surprised - Shiro was constantly chiding Keith about his impulsiveness.
With Keith’s agreement, Shiro was quick to follow to suit, giving Allura a serious nod and placing a hand on Keith’s shoulder. Pidge was the next to follow, though Keith could see reservation about the decision plain on her face. However, her natural curiosity won out over her hesitation in the end. Hunk was the last to follow, exchanging a look with Lance before strengthening his resolve.
The collective energy in the room after their decisions was electric; Keith’s nerves were tingling, although he couldn’t tell if it was from excitement or fear of what lay ahead.
Allura gave a sharp nod, though her eyes had softened in gratitude. “Coran?”
“Yes, Allura?” Keith hadn’t noticed Coran move, but his voice came from the control panel, where he was typing something into the console.
“Please locate the remaining bayards.” Coran nodded once, before turning back to what he was doing.
As they waited, Keith could see Lance fidgeting and began to feel a bit antsy himself. Hunk and Pidge were examining the ship’s technology, and were currently ogling some sort of scanner on the wall near the door. Keith wondered if they had any idea of what it was or if they were trying to figure it out themselves. Meanwhile, Shiro was engaged with Allura in a quiet conversation. By the expressions on their faces, they were talking about something serious.
Keith turned towards Lance and opened his mouth to say something when -
“I’ve located the yellow bayard!” Coran’s voice cut through the air like a knife. Everyone stopped what they were doing.
“Excellent, Coran!” Allura clapped her hands together once. “Plot a course at once!”
“I’m on it!”
“You’ll want to strap yourselves in,” Allura informed them. Keith opened his mouth to complain that there was nowhere to do so, when seats began to rise from the floor and formed a semicircle in the room.
Everyone immediately began strapping themselves in per Allura’s warning, unsure of what to expect. Keith found himself wedged between Shiro and Hunk. He could make out Allura, Lance, and Pidge opposite of him and briefly wondered if a chair had appeared near the control panel for Coran.
He started to crane his neck to check, when there was a swooping sensation in his stomach. There was roaring in his ears and Keith clenched his jaw tightly. It felt as if metal bands were circling his chest and squeezing . Nausea roiled in his stomach. Right when he felt like he might throw up, the sensations abruptly stopped.
Keith fumbled to undo the straps, fingers feeling clumsy as he felt for the button to free himself. There was a groaning from Hunk at his right, and taking in his green face, Keith hoped that Hunk wouldn’t get sick.
When they all got back to their feet, Allura and Coran were the only ones to stand steadily. Allura gave them all sympathetic looks. “Your bodies will become accustomed to the effects of time travel. The more jumps you make, the more your symptoms should lessen.”
After giving them a moment to adjust, Allura clapped her hands together. “We’ve jumped to the location of the yellow bayard. Lance’s bayard should be able to guide you directly to the location out in the field, while Coran and I remain on the time ship, and will also act as a communicator should you need us.” Allura eyed them critically. “Yes, I believe your clothes will be fine.”
“Wait, when and where are we?” Shiro interjected, asking the same question everyone else had.
Allura simply smiled and looked at Lance. “Perhaps now is a good time for you to become accustomed to using your bayard.”
Lance’s eyes flickered over everyone before looking down at the device and reading aloud.
“Trona Pinnacles, California. May, 2007.”