Chapter Text
Lance was used to his team not listening to him. He was totally used to it. The only person the others ever really listened to were people who commanded respect and had experience, like Allura or Shiro. Shiro was a senior officer, a superior who always seemed to know what to do in a difficult situation. Allura was a princess, literally raised to be a queen, a ruler of an entire kingdom. Lance neither commanded respect or had experience, but the blatant disregard for his position as the leader now that Shiro was missing was starting to piss him off just a tiny bit.
Lance was both a younger brother and an older brother. All of his older siblings were out of the house already, so he was the oldest in the household besides his mom. His mother worked late most nights, so he was often the one left taking care of the younger ones. He knew how to handle his siblings when wouldn’t listen to him, but this wasn’t his family. This was his team. A team that didn’t even act like a team half the time.
The only one who even considered what he had to say was Hunk, but it’s always been like that. It wasn’t much of a change from normal. It was the other’s who didn’t even care about what he had to say. Often when the missions were out, Allura was the one who gave orders, before he’d even opened his mouth to say something.
When Shiro was the leader, Allura would call him down early to give a full run-through of what the problem was, then Shiro would tell the rest of the team a quick briefing of the important things and give them their orders. Now that Lance was the black paladin, Allura gave them a brief run-through and gave them orders. Lance couldn’t disagree. The orders she gave were usually the ones he would have given and if not, had he said something, they would have argued. Arguing with Allura was never a good idea.
The fact that she had barely recognized him as the blue paladin, forget being the black paladin, hurt. Then again, when he was the blue paladin, he didn’t have much to worry about. She was grieving. Lance understood that, (he really did) they all were. Every single person on that ship was grieving the loss of their brother, friend, and leader but that didn’t mean she could just walk all over him.
Lance reaching the last straw for her bullshit happened after the third time she did it. He was on the training deck, trying to fight the gladiator, when the alarms went off and Allura’s voice came over the comms.
“Paladins! We have received a distress beacon! Report to the control room immediately!” She said.
Lance called a quick “end training sequence” before rushing to throw on his armor. No matter how many times he put it on, he still couldn’t get used to seeing murky black instead of shining blue. Once he was situated in his armor, he ran down to the control room. He wasn’t the last one there. In fact, he was the third one, passed only by Keith, who had probably already been in his armor, and Allura, who had already been there and in her blue armor.
He went and stood by the princess, and tried to ignore the sting in his heart when Keith wouldn’t look at him. It was always like that when Lance wore this armor. Lance understood it, though. It hurt to see someone else in Shiro’s armor, in his brother’s armor. It was like someone trying to replace your mom or something. Lance knew the feeling all too well.
After Lance came Pidge, then Hunk. Pidge stood on one side of Keith, Hunk stood on the other. When they were all gathered, Allura took a couple steps away from Lance, to stand where all could see her, and began to give the run-through.
“The galra have invaded a planet not far from us called Xeaxus IV. They’ve enslaved the residents, the resources we have call them Kanaccapa. They are amazing smith's, able to produce any iron object by forcing the hot metal to bend to their will. It is our job to save them. Unfortunately, according to the message, the enemy galra have someone important under their supervision. A prince,” she said, voice calm and steady. Lance nodded to himself, summing up the information in his head. Save a race of metal benders without the prince getting killed. Got it. It was just like an episode of Avatar The Last Airbender. If a child with wind powers could do it, so could Voltron.
“Okay, s--
“Keith, you and Pidge will save the prince. Go in with the green lion’s cloak. I’ll upload a map of the castle into Pidge’s armor. Hunk, you and I will gather every single metal item we can find for the residents to bend into weapons. Lance, there’s a speaker in the castle that broadcasts all throughout the kingdom. Rally the people to fight,” Allura said, cutting Lance off. He frowned. He was about to give those exact orders. He dropped his head, crossing his arms and glaring at the ground.
She always did this. She always did his job for him. She never did it to Shiro, so why do it to him? He knew the answer. No matter how much the two voices in his head told him he was wrong, he knew. He knew it was because she thought he was useless. He couldn’t blame her, he thought it too, but it still pissed him off that she hadn’t even given him a chance to prove himself.
“Lance?” She called. He lifted his head up, glaring at her.
“What?” He snapped. His team stared at him. He backpedaled. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap. What is it, princess?” She seemed to accept his half-assed apology. So did everyone else. They probably thought he was just being a drama queen, though he’d stopped doing that since he became the black paladin. He’d tried to be both a leader and comic relief, but it was too stressful. He already stayed up at nights just wondering why Black chose him, he didn’t need anything more to add to his list. No one seemed to notice, though.
“Did you get that?” She asked, looking unimpressed by him. “The battle plans?”
Oh.
Oh.
She did not just call him out in front of his team. She shouldn’t be calling him out in general. He doesn’t recall doing anything stupid the past week, he’d been too busy. He bristled.
“Yes, princess,” He ground out through clenched teeth. After his answer, his team turned back to the princess. Except for Hunk, bless him, who came to stand near Lance.
“What’s up buddy?” Hunk asked, looking concerned for his friend. Lance shook his head, straightening his back. He smiled reassuringly at Hunk as Allura dismissed them. They each ran to their separate hangars. No matter how many times he saw it, just like his new armor, it was still weird walking up to Black instead of Blue.
Black’s cockpit was different from Blue’s. For one thing, it was bigger. For another, it still smelled a bit like Shiro. For another even more obvious reason, it wasn’t blue.
She came to life when Lance touched the stick and he smiled, hearing her voice in his head. That was another thing different from Blue. Their voices. Blue’s voice was like a soothing wave. Black’s voice was like the calming sound of the wind. It was strange, having two voices in his head rather than one. Regardless, he loved them.
He drove Black to the planet before them and landed in an opening in the forest, Blue and Yellow already there. He felt Blue’s concern for his anger once he was in close range, but pushed her off. Just because they still had that connection didn’t mean he was still her paladin. She should be worrying about Allura.
He stepped out of his lion and jogged to stand by Hunk. The princess was talking to a local, informing them of what was going on.
“Hey buddy,” Lance said, clapping Hunk on the shoulder. “How’s it going?”
“I should be asking you that,” Hunk said, voice concerned. “You’re the one acting weird. You okay?”
“Yeah, of course!” Lance said, grinning widely. He wanted Allura to stop, but there was no point in getting angry about it. He just had to bring it up to her? Maybe she didn’t realize she was doing it. She was kind of a control freak. He tuned into the conversation Allura was having with the local and frowned.
“Are you the leader?” The local asked. The locals looked strange. They looked like little lava blob monsters with metal armor. They were kind of intimidating, being literally hotter than the sun and all. Allura seemed to hesitate before smiling diplomatically.
“Ah, yes. Something like that,” she said.
Lance snapped. He clenched his fists, over and over again, trying to calm down. Anger never solves anything. It was alright.
….
So she did know. And she was doing it on purpose. Yeah, that’s not okay.
-----
The mission was successful. The galra’s grip on the Kanaccapa was destroyed. Another win for team Voltron. But that didn’t settle Lance’s anger. Throughout the entire mission, Lance fumed. He was outraged, of course he was. Allura preached and preached about disrespect and then had the gall to do that to him just because he wasn’t Shiro.
He stalked out of Black and into the changing rooms. Everyone changed in there except Allura. Allura changed by herself. Keith, Hunk, and Pidge were all there, chatting away and laughing as they got changed. Lance just walked over to an open part of one of the metal benches and took off his armor. Chest plate first, then the legs, then the arms. He took off the top part of the under armor and put his shirt on. Everyone was still talking and laughing. Once he was successfully out of his under armor and in all of his everyday clothes, he threw the suit into some locker and stomped out of the room. It was deathly quiet in there, now. He didn’t really care.
He slammed open the door and walked out. Vaguely he heard Hunk mutter a “be right back” and then the big man was right next to him, trying to assess the situation. Lance wasn’t on the verge of tears, so he wasn’t sad or homesick. He wasn’t green so he wasn’t just sick in general. He just looked plain angry. Lance wasn’t the type to get angry often. Only when someone or something crosses a certain line he puts down. Allura crossed that line one too many times in Lance’s book.
“Lance? Buddy?” Hunk said, trying to keep up with him. “What’s up?” Lance stopped and turn to glare at his friend.
“What’s up? What’s up?! I’m gonna rip Allura a new one, that’s what’s up,” he said, then walked away, down the corridor. Hunk didn’t follow. He knew it wasn’t Hunks fault and made a mental note to apologize to him later, once he was calmer.
He found Allura in the control room, typing away at the computer. She was still wearing her blue paladin armor. She looked tired, like she hadn’t slept for days. She was still grieving, Lance could see that, and it softened his anger a little bit.
“Allura,” he called, softly. She glanced at him but continued to type.
“Yes, Lance?” She said, squinting at the screen. He sighed, crossing his arms. He could do this all day if he needed to.
“Allura,” he called again, stronger this time. She frowned but didn’t look at him.
“Yes, Lance?”
“Allura.”
“Yes?”
“Allura.”
“What?!” She yelled turning to look at him, an annoyed look on her face. “If this is one of your stupid attempts at courting--
“Allura, what’s my position here?” He asked, staring into her eyes from where he stood a bit below her. She blinked at him. He was still angry. He knew she could tell. He still wanted to yell at her, but she was the embodiment of stubborn diplomacy. It was always better to start small with her.
“You’re a paladin of Voltron,” she said, looking confused.
“No, my exact position. What lion do I pilot? What’s my position on the team? For example, Pidge is our tech expert and pilots Green. You are our diplomatic negotiator and pilot Blue. Hunk is an engineer, a cook, an entire support system and the pilot of Yellow all rolled into one. Coran is help, always has been--lord knows we need it. Keith is the best fighter pilot I’ve ever met, seconded only by Shiro, and pilots Red. So, what’s the black paladin’s position, hmm?” Lance said, holding his hands behind his back.
“The black paladin leads the team,” she said, blinking down at him. “Of course.”
“Right!” He said, smiling at her in that way people smile when they are really really angry. “But who’s been leading the team?”
“You have--
“I have not,” Lance snapped, opening glaring at her now. “Because someone always does my job for me, without even giving me a chance.”
“Lance, I...” She trailed, intelligent eyes sparking in what Lance could only describe as understanding. Of course, she couldn’t say anything. He tightened his grip on his hand.
“Is it because I’m not a natural born computer geek like Pidge? Or maybe it’s because I don’t know the complicated parts of coding, like Hunk. Perhaps it’s because I’m not a natural pilot like Keith. Maybe it’s because I don’t have the same kind of experience as Shiro,” he said. He was even more pissed off by the fact that she looked shocked that he even kept up with that much.
, Of course he knew where his team stood. It was his team for crying out loud! Even Allura knew that much and she wasn’t around them at all! She wouldn’t know that Pidge almost works herself to death every night, both trying to help the team and find Shiro and her family. She wouldn’t know that Keith spends all his time on the training deck, trying to distract himself from the fact that his brother is missing again. She wouldn’t know that Hunk stress-bakes and that’s why they have pastries every night for a side. She wouldn’t know that Lance knows that she spends all her free time looking for Shiro and that she hardly ever eats what she’s given.
“No, No! Of course not--
“Regardless, Shiro is gone,” Lance said, clenching his fist, watching as Allura flinched. “So someone had to replace him until further notice. Until he’s found. Black happened to choose me. I didn’t want this, it wasn’t really an option, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to half-ass it. It’s my job to keep the team together, give orders, and keep everything organized. The same damn job as Shiro. And just because I don’t have the same experience or talent as the other’s doesn’t mean you can disrespect me all you like.”
Allura clamped her mouth shut.
“The final decision may lie with you, but that didn’t stop you from treating Shiro like a leader. All I ask for is that same kind of respect because, damn it, I’m trying my hardest here.”
Allura seemed to open up. She smiled and stood straighter. Then she walked off the tiny raised platform and hugged him tightly. Lance froze. What did this mean? Was she about to break his spine? Oh. One paladin down for Voltron. Two if you count Shiro.
But she didn’t. She only hugged him. Then said, “I’m very sorry.”
Lance took it. He smiled and hugged her back, silently hoping they got attacked again soon so that he could see if she really was sorry. After all, actions speak louder than words right?
-----
Lance stood in the kitchen, Hunk by his side. He’d originally went to find and apologize to Hunk for snapping on him the day before, but had gotten sidetracked when he smelled the delicious scent of baked cookies.
He hopped up onto the counter, listening as Hunk explained what was in it. It sounded safe, as safe as a giant list of random alien ingredients could sound, and smelled amazing so why wouldn’t it taste delicious too? Besides, if there was one thing that Lance was positive about, it was Hunk’s cooking ability. Lance ignored the scaultrite incident, for the most part.
“So can I eat it?” Lance asked, reaching for one of the hot cookies on the tray. Hunk slapped his hand away.
“No, you cannot,” He said, huffing. “They’re still hot and I don’t even know if it’s safe yet. I have to run some tests first.” Lance pouted. He just wanted a cookie.
He was whining, trying to convince Hunk to let him eat the cookie when Allura walked in. She came and stood in front of Lance. One thing Lance always liked about Allura was that she stood like a diplomat. She stood like someone who knew what they were going to say because they’d practiced it for seven years or something. It was a beautiful way to stand. A weird thing to like about someone, Lance would admit, but it was interesting nonetheless.
“Lance, if I could have some of your time,” She said. Lance looked at Hunk, who was staring at him already. Then he shrugged and made to jump off the counter, she stopped him. “You don’t have to do that. I came because we’re about to go on another mission and I want your opinion.”
Lance stared at her. Hunk stared at her. She didn’t flinch or break eye contact. Lance smiled. This was the first step. Allura’s eyes looked more open, like she’d been needing to talk to someone about battle plans. She looked less tired. Lance guessed she had been stressing herself out, trying to make the right plans and the right orders so that no one would get hurt. He could relate.
“Sure,” he said, leaning back on his hands. “Lay it on me.”