Chapter Text
Lance's favourite colour was blue. It reminded him of home.
Home, meaning the Varadero waves where he spent most of his childhood navigating, the chipped paint of his father's truck, the hydrangeas his grandmother kept in the window boxes, the annoying beaded bracelet his sister was rarely seen without, his mother's favourite dress and his eyes every time he looked into the mirror. Blue was a constant at the Mcclain household.
Blue was Lance's colour.
Red, however, was a colour Lance had associated with Keith. He was no expert in art, but he knew enough of its symbolism in literature to tell that it was all things Keith, meaning impulsive, hot-headed and strong. Oh, throw in the stupid leather jacket he was so fond of.
When Shiro went missing, Keith was accepted by the Black Lion to be the Black Paladin and Lance was shoved into a new identity along with a Lion and a new bayard.
He remembered that Keith sought him out at Red's hangar shortly before he had given Allura the blue bayard.
"You're the Red Paladin now," Keith said, his eyes not quite meeting Lance's. "So I should be giving you this." The red bayard materialised in his hand.
"Ohh right, I almost forgot. Remind me to give Allura the blue bayard later. Gee," Lance took the red bayard deftly and weighed it. "It's red."
Keith scowled, crossing his arms, "What do you expect? It's the bayard of the Red Paladin."
With a flash, the bayard transformed into the familiar blaster. He smirked and struck a dramatic pose, "I mean, it doesn't exactly fit with my entire blue colour scheme, but with a handsome face like mine, I'm sure I'll make it work."
Keith almost choked with laughter.
(Lance had never seen him laugh before.)
"So you've got the black bayard now, huh?" Lance asked, and regretted it instantly. Shiro was still a sore topic for everyone.
Pain flashed in Keith's eyes, "Yes."
"Come on, man, don't be down. We'll find him," Lance swatted him lightly in the arm. "I know being the Black Paladin is a lot of responsibility, but now that I'm your right hand, I'm supposed to help you."
Keith smiled tentatively, "Thank you. Um, and take good care of Red."
"Oh, fly your own Lion, Keith!" Lance quipped, and paused. "I hope you get settled with the new position soon."
Of course, Keith didn't get settled into the new position immediately. His first few moments of being the new leader involved a wild goose chase on a storm planet and many angry yells from both Lance and Keith.
But Keith was learning, fast. He was becoming a good leader even if he was going in an entirely different direction as Shiro.
While Keith and Allura both had some trouble adapting to their new lions, Lance was lucky enough to have bonded almost instantly with Red. He could have been stuck with a highly reluctant and uncooperative Lion.
Blue would always have a special place in Lance's heart, but he was perfectly contented with being the Red Paladin and Keith's second-in-command (he would never admit this out loud to anyone else), right until Keith decided to leave Team Voltron for the Blade of Marmora, leaving Lance to ponder over his place in the team all over again.
As he watched Keith's ship leave the atmosphere of the planet, he jammed his hands into his jacket pocket and thought optimistically, well Shiro's back and Pidge is probably going to find her brother. Everything is going to be okay. What could go wrong?
"You alright, man?" Hunk asked, wrapping an arm over his shoulder after the team went back into the castleship. "You were spacing out."
"I'm fine. Just a little tired from all the flying," Lance forced a smile.
"Really? You should take a nap then," Hunk suggested.
"I will. Don't worry. What's for dinner?"
Hunk's enthusiasm about chocolate pudding flavoured space goo was enough to set Lance's mind at ease.
***
It was simply shocking how many things could go wrong at the same time.
"Heeey, buddy, you up?" Lance waved a hand in front of Red. He had just fled from the mess hall with the excuse of 'wanting to get some fresh air'.
If anyone knew that it was just a blatant ploy to escape from Lotor's company, they most certainly didn't bring it up. Every time Lance and Lotor were in the same room, something was bound to happen.
Yes.
Red activated almost instantaneously with a roar per usual, and lowered his jaw to let Lance in.
The past few months were honestly a nightmare.
At first, the effects of Keith's departure didn't affect them much. Pidge managed to find his brother, Hunk discovered how to make milkshakes and the Voltron shows with Bii-Boh-Bi were just hilarious.
Then, Naxzela happened, Lotor of all people saved their lives, proceeded to defeat Zarkon and declared himself the new Galra Emperor in just a matter of weeks. As if the Galran Empire wasn't chaotic enough, the rest of the Generals descended into war and started vying for more power. They seemed to have a common enemy though - Voltron.
The team dynamics took a turn for the worse when trouble was literally waiting for them. Everyone was on the verge of breakdown- and acting weird. Especially Shiro.
(Thanks so much for nothing, Keith.)
So when the nights on the castleship were too unbearable, Lance would sneak on board Red and hide from everyone else. Sometimes he would talk to Red about his family. Sometimes he would just sit there and stare at the red hued walls as if when he concentrated hard enough, something might show up on there. Occasionally, he would fall asleep and wake up to find Hunk shouting disapprovingly at him from below with a tray of breakfast.
Red was the only place Lance could properly relax in and not feel so alone. Add a few family photos and a bed, it might pass as Lance's bedroom back on Earth.
( Maybe it was because Red was the only connection Lance had with Keith.)
Something is wrong? You seem to be on edge. Red rumbled quizzically through their shared bond.
"How do you know?" Lance asked, ripping open the package of a ration bar he had kept in a secret compartment and nibbled on the edge of the bar.
Ugh. He could do with one of Hunk's milkshakes right now, brain freeze be damned.
Do you want to talk about it?
"Oh, what now, Red? Are you offering to be my therapist?" Lance teased, scraping up some of his Razzle-Dazzle-ness.
Lance. Red didn't sound amused.
Lance threw his hands up in the air exasperatedly, "Fine! I'll talk. You're right. There are so many things I'd like to get off my chest and I seriously don't know what to do anymore."
Is it Prince L'Oreal ad you're talking about? Red snorted, having picked up Lance's many creative nicknames for Lotor from his infamous rants.
He grinned weakly, "Yes, the one and only Prince Purple Legolas. But he's not the only problem. Look, Pidge and Hunk might be saying I'm paranoid, but I don't trust him. Mark my words, he's going to betray us all when the time comes. And argh, no one listens to me when I rant about Lotor-"
Because they think you're jealous of him?
"That's the problem!" Lance snapped his fingers in frustration. "They all think I'm just jealous of him for spending so much time with Allura. Okay, maybe I am just a teensy jealous of him hanging out with a beautiful Princess all the time, but Allura isn't the only person I care about! I know a shady guy when I see one. All those Altean alchemy bla bla bla White Lion bla bla bla, he's just using Allura for his own gain! If Keith is here, I don't think he will be that trusting."
Huh. Will Keith trust Lotor? Red rumbled thoughtfully.
"O-of course not!" Lance bristled. "The Mullet Man hates the guy. He'll side with me."
Hm.
There was a long pause. Lance could almost imagine a cartoon version of Red raising his eyebrows judgementally in his mind. He didn't even know the Red Lion was capable of saying cryptic things such as 'hm'. Who taught him that?!
"Okay! Okay! I don't know! Every time Lotor wants to do something, Shiro goes nuts. And speaking of Shiro..." Lance took a deep breath, and said in a hushed voice, "I think there's something wrong with Shiro."
You mean the time he yelled at you? Red growled. He wasn't there at the time, but he could feel Lance's distress from miles away when Shiro lashed out at him.
"Not only that. Do you remember the time at Olkari? When we all blacked out after pushing our bayards into the slot?"
Yes. I sensed something was wrong, but I didn't ask.
Lance briefly described the strange glowing Shiro he saw and the painfully awkward conversation he had with Shiro after the battle. He also mentioned Shiro's insistence to take the Black Lion to Kral Zera, when most of the team was against it. It wasn't like Shiro to completely disregard his team's opinions, especially Allura.
This... Is troubling. Red seemed hesitant. I don't know if the Black Lion has sensed this. Has anyone else noticed?
"I think Allura is suspecting something, but she's too busy working with Lotor to investigate. Besides, I can't just walk up to Shiro and ask him stuff like that. He's my role model. I look up to him," Lance wobbled back and forth on his seat. "Even if I tell the others, they will think I'm crazy."
( "We're not talking to you, Lance," Pidge said peevishly and called out for Shiro to take him away. Lance knew Pidge would never be mean to him under normal circumstances, but it still hurt more than he expected.)
Oh. Do I need to roar at them for making you upset?
Lance sat up straight, almost giving himself a whiplash, "NO, Red, I'm fine. Pidge and Hunk are my friends. They're just stressed out."
You sure? I can go roar at them now if you want. The entire Lion shuddered and creaked ominously.
"NO NO NO!!!" Lance waved his arms around, "You don't need to!"
Humph.
Lance admitted something he would never ever admit to anyone else, "I just wish Keith is here."
Well, why don't you try to contact him?
Lance laughed drily, "Ha, the last time I saw him face to face, was when he left us. Afterwards, it was all video conferences with the Blade. Besides, Kolivan will be mad if I try to contact him."
Really.
He flipped up the hood of his jacket and boomed in what he had hoped to be an accurate imitation of Kolivan's gruff voice, "This is against the Blade protocol, boy. If you are not calling for the sake of the mission, I advise you not to contact us or my protege again."
Red chuckled.
"Keith is one of the best strategists-wait no, scratch that, he's just going to march in with a bayard... I am the better strategist here. If there is anyone we can count on for being intuitive, it is Keith. He's a much better leader than we give him credit for."
You miss Keith, Red stated plainly.
"I - What?! Don't be kidding! Who said I miss Samurai?! I'm glad I don't have to see his disaster of a hairstyle!" Lance's ears turned red. "I can't care any less about him! I don't care if he's prancing around with the Galra version of the Jedi Order!"
Lance.
"Well maybe I miss making fun of him! The castleship is too quiet without him."
Lance.
"..."
Lance deflated into his chair, and rubbed his temples.
"I honestly don't know what to feel anymore. You know, back at Galaxy Garrison when Keith flunked out, I felt happy. Iverson told me I was promoted to fighter class. But when Keith left to become a freaking Marmorite, I feel... annoyed. I understand he has important Marmorite heritage-related stuff to do, which is totally fine and I get it because I miss my family too. But I'm still a little bit mad at him for leaving Voltron," Lance ranted.
You miss him, Red insisted, almost sounded triumphant.
Lance hugged his knees to his chest and sighed in defeat, "Fine. You win. I miss Keith. And I'm worried about him. Are the Marmorites even treating him right? Is he even eating well? Hell, do Marmorites even eat?! Don't tell me they eat Quintessence for lunch?!"
Red didn't respond.
"I know I'm supposed to hate Keith because he's my rival and stuff, but you know what, I guess I don't really hate him. I don't know if Keith has ever talked to you about hating my guts and stuff-"
No. Never.
Lance blinked, "Really? I was an asshole to him, even though he wasn't much better back at the Garrison, that standoffish jerk."
Garrison?
"Ah, it's kind of stupid actually..." Lance scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. "I don't really want to talk about it now."
That's okay.
Now that the cat was out of the bag and the initial embarrassment was over, Lance realised he really, really missed Keith. There were so many things he'd like to tell him, and he was actually coping by complaining to Red.
The last time he wanted to talk to someone so badly, it was when they found Shiro and had one Paladin too many...
And he had gone directly to Keith.
Keith might be hot-headed and emo, but he listened to people, well, mostly Lance, when they were not bickering or chasing Lotor's ship. Lance had expected him to laugh right in his face and tell him to leave the team, but Keith didn't. He listened and reassured him.
Lance, do you like being the Red Paladin?
"Of course! I love being the Red Paladin..." Lance shifted his weight. "But no offence to Shiro, whether he's the real Shiro or not, it isn't quite the same being his right hand. I enjoyed being the Red Paladin to Keith's Black Paladin. We work best together, heck, we are supposed to be a team! Everyone is working in teams, except for me. Hunk, Pidge and Matt are always holed up in a room inventing I-don't-know-what. Coran and Shiro are working on the castleship functions. Allura and Prince Space Draco Malfoy with Long Hair are working as a duo now. I'm the odd one out. I've always been the seventh wheel."
Don't be silly, you're not, Red protested. You are a rightful paladin of Voltron. Blue chose you. I also chose you.
"They might be replacing me with Lotor some day," Lance laughed humourlessly.
I won't let him come in, Red promised.
"Maybe I can go find Keith at the Marmora base and be the first non Galran to pass those trials," Lance joked. "I'm going to look so devastatingly dashing in that black suit."
Ah.
"What?"
It's nothing. I'm glad you told me all of this, Lance, Red rumbled mournfully. I had no idea you felt this way. I wonder if I could fix it.
"It's okay, Red, you don't need to do anything," Lance patted the control panels. "I'm glad there is someone else other than Kaltenecker that listens to me. I'm feeling a lot better now."
Yeah, and... I think you should probably go to sleep now. It's going to be a loooooong day tomorrow. Red let out a long roar, as if to imitate a yawn.
"Okay?" Lance frowned. He reached and pulled out the blue checkered quilt from the secret compartment.
He tucked himself into the cosiest corner of the cockpit and let sleep overtake him.
He could worry about Lotor and Shiro tomorrow.
***
"Lance! LANCE!!! Can you hear me?! COME IN, LANCE!"
Lance jolted awake from his dream about flying squirrels and avocados (don't ask). The floor rumbled violently. He sat up groggily against the wall and spared a hazy glance at the window.
"Wait, WHAT?!"
Instead of the nondescript walls of the castleship hangar, the windows displayed blue tinted statistics and a brilliant dark tapestry of silver nebula.
In other words, he was in freaking space.
"Lance!" Allura yelled through the intercom. "Are you alright?"
"Allura!!! What's going on?!" Lance shouted back, his voice shrill. "Where am I?"
Hunk's voice rang out, "Lance! Did you fall asleep in Red again? This is very bad for your health, you need to-"
"That's not the main point, Hunk! Answering Lance's question, you're obviously in space, if you can't tell from the stars already," Pidge's voice joined Hunk's. "You were missing at breakfast and we were so worried! Then Coran said that Red was also missing from his hangar so we put two and two together."
"We're trying to find out where Red is taking you!" Hunk said earnestly.
"Don't worry, Lance!" Matt added.
"How am I supposed to not worry!" Lance tugged at the controls frantically. "None of my controls are working! Can you stop Red from moving?"
"Unfortunately Red has formed a barrier between the castleship and himself and he's on autopilot mode. Coran is still working on how to reverse it," Allura said apologetically. There was a loud crash from their side and someone was swearing fluently in Altean.
Lance took the time to bellow at his trusty Lion. "RED!!! What are you doing?! Are you trying to do the Kessel run or something?!"
You said you want to talk to Keith, so I'm taking you directly to him, Red answered calmly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Lance froze.
No.
No.
NO.
This couldn't be happening right now.
This couldn't be real.
"RED!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Lance shrieked, his hands flying up to cover his face in abject horror. "ARE YOU SERIOUS? YOU CAN'T BE DOING THIS TO ME, BUDDY! IS THIS BECAUSE I SAID THAT YOU'RE NOT AS FAST AS THE MILLENNIUM FALCON LAST WEEK? I TAKE THAT ALL BACK BUDDY. YOU ARE THE FASTEST LION, OKAY? NOTHING IS FASTER THAN YOU. NOW LET'S GO HOME."
Unfortunately, Red was either holding a grudge against Lance's comment or being super serious, because right in front of them, in all its blue and purple swirling glory, were the two black holes.
Home to the Blade of Marmora. And... Keith.
At the same time, Allura had also figured out where exactly Lance was heading towards, "Lance, it appears that the Red Lion is taking you to the Blade of Marmora main base. On autopilot."
Lane screamed.
"Woah woah woah wait a sec. Of all places in the world, why is Red taking him to the Blade of Marmora?" Pidge asked, confused. "I thought Red hates the Blade, I mean, he was blasting at them the last time he was there."
"That was because Keith was in danger, remember?" Hunk pointed out. "Red has a knack for sensing things like this."
"DO SOMETHING!!!" Lance yelled.
"I told you we're working on it!"
"Hunk, I told you to rewire this thing!"
Sometimes, he imagined seeing Keith face to face again. He even had a long speech written out in his mind if he needed an excuse to leave the castleship. But all of the imagining and speculating did not prepare him for the horrific reality of being hurtled towards the Blade of Marmora base (uninvited) in a rogue Lion.
This wasn't what Lance had in mind at all. Not even close.
Worst of all, the high tech detectors in the base should have picked up Red's presence by now, and there was no turning back.
Right on the cue, he received a call from the destination he was heading towards. He cringed mightily at the thought of a full-length Galra lecture and accepted it.
Kolivan's face appeared on the screen, and he didn't look impressed at all. Maybe because he recognised this Lion as the very same one that nearly blasted his base apart and had it blacklisted or something.
"Red Paladin, what is the meaning of this?" Kolivan demanded sharply. "I understand that the Blade has forged a close alliance with the paladins of Voltron, but as far as I'm concerned, you are not invited to our base, nor are we expecting your presence. The base is a highly sacred place and is therefore not a space mall where you can come and go as you please-"
"OH, OH MY GOD!!!" Lance cracked (he swore he saw Kolivan jump in surprise at his outburst). "Listen, I just woke up to find out that my Lion is out of control and I'm in space and I absolutely did NOT choose to fly here, okay? I don't even know the exact coordinates of your freaking base!!!"
Kolivan blinked, bemused, "The Red Lion is out of control?"
"Look, I'm pulling on all the controls and nothing is working!" To prove his point, he made a great show of flipping the switches, which of course, didn't do anything at all.
Kolivan asked stiffly, "So there's nothing you can do right now? Say, alter the Lion's route?"
"Obviously not, duh! If I can do something about Red, I would have done so already!" Lance puffed up angrily. "Red is not listening to me!"
It obviously wasn't wise to enrage one of their valuable allies (as stated in Coran's guide to diplomacies), but Lance was in no mood of being polite.
Allura's voice joined in, "I'm sorry, Kolivan, I'm sure Lance means no offence. I believe the Red Lion has a good reason for taking Lance to your base. We would be most grateful if you could allow him to board your base."
When Lance was so sure Kolivan was going to say no, the Blade warrior heaved a sigh, "Fine, as long as your Lion doesn't go berserk, you are granted permission to land. We will be sending someone to get you."
The transmission ended with a tiny beep.
"No guarantees," Lance mumbled darkly, just as Red swerved to the right violently to avoid the asteroid belt. "Please be careful Red, now that we are here. I don't want to get sucked into the black hole. I'm not even in my armour."
I know my way around, Red sounded smug. Look, you're going to have to talk to Keith eventually. You might as well do it now and make things right.
Lance sank deeper into his chair and did a face-palm.
As unexpected as the situation was, Red was right.
"But what if Keith doesn't want to see me?" He groaned. "Maybe he still thinks I'm a jerk."
Lance, you two have gotten so much closer after you have become the red paladin. Everything has changed.
"Okay, Red, I'm hoping you are correct, because if you are not, we are in a significant amount of trouble," Lance winced, as the dark, rocky structure came into view. "I can see the welcoming committee already." He picked up his helmet and bayard (he somehow had the foresight to bring them onto Red the night before), just in case things went south with Kolivan. He probably looked ridiculous wearing his helmet and casual wear at the same time, but it wasn't like he had a choice.
Red dropped down onto the ground and let him get off.
"Any moment now..." Lance muttered.
A small part of the ground split open and three masked Blade members rose up slowly on a platform, the zig zag accents on their suits glowing dark purple.
Lance squared his shoulders and stared ahead of him determinedly.
Here goes nothing.