Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Hang on, everyone!”

“Shit, I'm being sucked in!”

“Keith!”
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Keith let out a groan, his face pressed against what he could only imagine was cold concrete. The last thing he remembered was fighting against Haggar with the rest of the Paladins (Shiro had forced him to pilot the Black Lion for this mission, for whatever reason) and something attacked him and his Lion. He opened his eyes and winced when a bright light flashed, causing him to once again close his eyes.

“He's awake, High Priestess.”

“Oh good.”

Curiosity winning over, the black-haired Paladin opened his eyes and found the witch Haggar standing over him, glowing yellow eyes not revealing anything. White marks stood out against her dark skin and white hair peeked out from behind her cloak.

He struggled, only to find that he had been bound. He stared down his body to find that he was on a medical examination table, with steel shackles on his wrists and ankles. He was stripped down to only his underwear. Right beside Haggar was a silver tray lined with various medical instruments and a screen.

“I am pleased you are awake, Keith Kogane,” she said without an inflection in her voice.

“H-how...” Keith couldn't continue his question due to his dry throat and mouth.

“While you were out, I ran a scan on you. And I found something worthwhile, something I did not expect but it did explain several things.”

Keith glared. “Like what?”

“The fact you are half Galra.”

His heart sunk in his chest.

It was something he had been trying to forget ever since the Trial of Marmora. That he was something not human, that he was even the slightest bit connected to Zarkon and his ruthless species. Sure, he now knew that just as with humans that there were good and bad Galra, but it still stung. The revelation of his heritage did shake his bonds with the other Paladins and the two remaining Alteans. Hunk liked making jokes about when he was gonna sprout purple fur but he knew that it wasn't meant as a joke. So he shoved to the back of his mind.

It had come up once again when he was training with the Blade of Marmora. Kolivan had mentioned how much stronger and faster Galrans were and he suggested that Keith should think about if he wanted to go through a transformation. With technology being so advanced, the leader of the Blades seemed sure he could force the transformation if Keith were to agree. He didn't and asked that it would never be brought up again. Kolivan eyed him but agreed.

“With this information, we can finally throw in a wrench in Voltron's plan.” She smirked down at him, revealing a vial of unknown liquid. Keith growled and tried to resist, only to remember he was restrained. “The less you squirm, the less this will hurt.”

“What.. is that?” he demanded around his sore throat.

“The key to unlocking your heritage, dear boy,” the witch purred. “Once your friends see who you truly are, they will abandon you. And they cannot form Voltron.”

Keith stopped moving, his breath caught in his chest. He remembered the looks on his comrades' faces when he revealed everything. Stuck in his memories, Haggar took the opportunity to hook him up with an IV and dumped the entire vial into a bag of liquid. He snapped out of it and stared fearfully at it.

“It will take its time getting into your system and you won't transform just yet.” She laughed. “Just enough time for your friends to save you. Then, when it is least expected, you will transform and you will be Voltron's undoing.” She left the room still laughing.

He laid on the table, watching as the bag slowly started to empty itself. He could feel it flowing into his veins. It burned but he refused to cry out. Keith knew that only doing that would give the Empire satisfaction that they were breaking him.

Well, they could think again, he thought to himself, his eyelids growing heavy. Without thinking he closed his eyes and he was plunged into darkness.
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“Keith!”

“Keith, buddy!”

Shaky arms slid under his body, rustling him from his sleep. He opened his eyes, blinking up at a familiar face. “Sh....iro.”

Shiro smiled down at him, his dark eyes dancing with relief. “Hang in there. We're here to save you.”

Keith smiled back, then allowed himself to close his eyes again. He was safe. His friends were here.

The trip back to the Castle of Lions was relatively quiet, something Keith knew he should question but found it in himself to not care. He was finally out of the grasp of the Empire. Shiro carried him to the medical bay, where Keith was deemed healthy.

“I am worried,” Pidge replied later in the lounge.

Keith was sprawled out on a couch by himself. Pidge and Matt shared a couch, both their laptops out on the glass table in front of them. Lance and Shiro shared another couch, with Hunk in the kitchen making food. Allura and Coran were nowhere to be found.

“What do you mean?” Lance replied, looking confused. “We got Keith back, didn't we?”

“Well, yes, but that was too easy,” the younger Paladin said, putting a hand on her chin. “Keith was on an Imperial ship, with no one else there. I thought nothing of it at the time but thinking back on it, it is... suspicious.”

“I agree with Pidge,” Shiro responded. “Something is up and we need to keep our guard up.”

Keith knew he should say something but he found himself confused that he didn't know what to say. The others had mentioned that he was hooked up to an IV bag when they found him. However, Coran revealed that there was nothing wrong with Keith according to the scans, but he would be watched for a few days just in case.

“In the mean time, we should celebrate!” Lance hollered. He smirked at Keith. “Don't think for one minute that I have forgotten our rivalry.”

Keith snorted. “I couldn't even if I tried.”

That night, they feasted on the food that Hunk made. Keith wasn't as hungry as he expected, so he didn't eat as much but it did fill him up. He avoided the concerned looks from Matt, Pidge, and Shiro and just listened to the chatter from his friends.

Keith excused himself early, saying he was tired from everything. Matt offered to escort him back and while the red Paladin hesitated, he agreed. He felt irritated that he had to be followed but he knew that this was a precaution. He fell down upon his bed once the door shut, letting out a sigh. Just as he was starting to fall asleep, a deep burning pain hit him in the gut. He curled up into a ball, trying not to cry out. It felt like his entire body was on fire, burning him up from the inside. Keith whimpered softly as he endured the torture. Eventually it did recede, leaving him gasping. He rubbed at his stinging eyes, trying to hide that he was nearly in tears.

“What... was that...” he mused to himself out loud, staring up at the ceiling. His body still ached after, especially his eyes, ears, and teeth. “I must be getting sick or something.”

Eventually he fell asleep, not caring to take notice that something was changing.
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Keith woke up the next day still feeling sore but not in as much pain as before. He lay staring at the ceiling for a few minutes before getting up off the bed. He staggered to his personal bathroom (the entire crew was relieved that they each had their own bathrooms when they were first taken onboard the Castle of Lions, especially Pidge) and was going to turn on the shower when he took a small glance at his mirror. His hand slipped off the handle and he gaped at himself.

Poking out from his hair were a pair of pointed purple ears. The tips were lightly furred and the shape reminded him of the famous Galra ears, especially those of his mother's. He felt his legs give out from under him and he collapsed on the cool tiles of the floor. Fearing the worst, he slipped a hand down and touched them. They felt real and he could even feel his touch on them. Frantically, he traced his fingers all over the lobe, wedging them around to see if there was a way to remove them.

It was during this moment that he finally remembered what had happened on that ship, what Haggar had said to him. His fingers stopped their movements and he sat frozen. His transformation was starting, just as she said. He let out a whine and curled up into a ball, resting his chin on his knees. Sure, he had been curious about his Galra heritage and was even considering maybe taking the transformation all the way, but not like this.

Not when Galras were still hated.

Not while the war was still going on.

He took in a deep breath, starting to feel a panic attack coming. Keith continued breathing slowly until he felt himself calming down enough to pick himself off the floor and shower. The warm water did nothing to wash away his fears, especially when he felt the water hitting his new ears. He took longer than he normally did and he wished he could stay there but knew he couldn't. The half Galra shut off the water and toweled himself dry, ignoring looking in the mirror to see the start of his changes.

Keith rummaged through his room to see if he could find a hat to wear to hide his ears, eventually deciding to wear a hoodie despite the warm weather. He slipped the red hoodie over his head and flicked the hood over his hair. Heading back to the mirror (just to check to see if it did hide his ears, he told himself), he was dismayed when he could still see them poking out the back of the hood. Taking in a deep breath again, he concentrated on making his ears press against his head. To his surprise, they moved as he wished, the hood falling perfectly flat once more.

Deeming himself presentable, he headed toward the kitchen, intent on finding some breakfast. He was the only one up (his hearing had increased with the change of his ears, something he found he quite liked, so no one could sneak up on him anymore), so he made himself a bowl of food goo (the label said it tasted like a human breakfast of eggs and bacon). He was sliding the spoon into his mouth when the metal clinked against a tooth. Keith cursed and was running his tongue over the tooth when he noticed something else. His canine teeth were longer and sharper; the rest of his teeth were a little sharper but not by much. Alarmed, he dropped the spoon into the bowl, wincing when the loud noise hurt his ears.

“Keith?”

He jumped about a foot in the air and whirled around, feeling his heart sink into his feet when he noticed Allura watching him with concern.

“I'm fine,” he said almost too quickly.

The Altean princess eyed him as she entered the kitchen fully. She reached out a hand and pressed it against his forehead. “You don't feel warm,” she announced. “Do you feel any different?”

“Different?” he parroted, feeling nauseous.

“Different than usual.”

He mentally commented that he was definitely feeling different, as he was slowly becoming a Galra and that he would be Voltron's downfall. So yes. Looking her in the eyes, Keith shook his head, giving her a slight smile.

“I appreciate your concern, Princess, but I'm fine.”

Allura narrowed her eyes at him. “You never called me Princess before, Keith.”

He gulped a little. “I've been with the Blades a lot more than on the Castle of Lions,” he said, thanking himself for being quick to retaliate. “They drilled me on proper speech and such.”

She stared at him before she relaxed. “Of course. Once Coran deems that nothing is wrong after a few more days, you are welcome to go back to the Blades. We have sent them a message that we're making sure you're ok before handing you over.”

He wished that Krolia would come pick him up, or even Kolivan. They wouldn't be afraid of his transformation and would actually help him cope through it. His friends, however, were too protective and refused to let him go until they said he was fine. His heart swelled a little until it deflated when he remembered what he was going through.

Keith gave a nod and picked up his spoon. He was just swallowing his bite when his stomach lurched painfully. He let out an involuntary gasp and doubled over, gritting his sharp teeth together.

“Keith! Keith, what's wrong?” came Allura's panicked voice.

He fell off his chair and crawled over to the trash can, heaving. He heard her yelling for the other Paladins as he bent over the can, trying not to breathe through his nose. His eyes darted over to the bowl and wondered if due to his changing body he could no longer stomach it.

So deep in thought, he almost didn't feel the hand smoothing down his back. Keith glanced to his right side and saw Shiro. The older man was rubbing his back, meeting his gaze with a concerned and worried look on his face.

“What happened?” he asked, a few threads of white hair falling into his eyes.

“I was eating, then I felt sick,” he murmured, his throat raw.

Hunk was taking out a clean spoon and tasted the goo in the abandoned bowl. “Nothing tastes different.”

“Keith reacted almost immediately,” Allura supplied.

“Maybe he developed a food allergy?” Lance provided.

Pidge was eyeing Keith carefully, then her gaze went to the bowl. “Hunk, what's in that goo?”

As Hunk listed off the various ingredients, Keith mentally winced when he heard one ingredient in particular. After talking with his mother Krolia on the space whale, when time was different from when they had come from, he raided the Blade's library for any information on Galra. He had already discovered that the mark on his face was a Galra mark (though Krolia, when she saw it, told him that), so he wanted to see what else he could learn about his heritage from his mother. The particular ingredient that Hunk listed was said to be almost poisonous to Galras.

“I got it!” Pidge said loudly, pulling himself back to reality. “Keith can't have that goo. It contains an ingredient that makes Galras sick!”

There was a deadly silence after her remark. All eyes were on Keith, who refused to meet any of their gazes, his cheek pressed against the wall beside the trash can. Allura made a noise and she immediately left the room, heels clacking on the floor.

“It was my fault,” he rasped, swallowing around his raw throat. “Made myself breakfast and forgot.... it had that.”

Shiro patted his back gently. “At least you didn't eat much of it before you got sick,” he said lightly, though there was a strain in his voice. Keith mentally flinched.

“I'll make a proper breakfast,” Hunk said. He smiled down at Keith before rounding over the counter to rummage in the fridge.

The rest of the morning was tense, with eyes flicking over to the half Galra who managed to get up off the floor and sit back down, with Shiro on one side. No one but him knew of the growing changes inside him, changes that would become more and more pronounced on the outside as well.

“Hey, Keith?”

Keith hummed around his glass of water, turning his head to meet Shiro's eyes. Dark gray eyes were still looking at him in concern.

“Your eyes... have they always been purple? And you have some slight discoloration in the whites of your eyes.”

He nearly choked on his water. Everyone stopped talking and Lance even leaned in across the table, eyes squinting.

“Hey, Shiro's right. But I thought your eyes were, like, blue-gray.”

“They were,” Pidge said in a steady tone.

Keith found himself frozen to the chair, unable to move or say a word. His heart was racing wildly in his chest and he found himself breathing harshly. He gripped the sides of the table hard, with almost enough pressure to dent the wood.

“Keith, deep breaths,” Shiro's voice said next to his ears.

He let out a squeak and fell off his chair again. Not thinking straight, he crawled backwards until his back hit the wall, still hyperventilating. Shiro followed him, staying in front of him the entire time.

“Keith, breathe with me. In,” Shiro took in a deep breath, “Out. In. Out.”

Keith found himself complying without thinking. Once he was calmer, he let out a whine and pressed his face into his knees, folding himself together. He didn't even register the simultaneous gasps that filled the room, as he was deep inside his mind.

“Uh, Keith?”

He let out a grunt.

“Since.... when did you have purple ears?” Lance asked, his voice strangled.

He froze once again, eyes going wide. Shit, they found out. His hood must've fallen off his head when he fell out of his chair. He forgot to breathe, going incredibly pale.

No one said a word, even as Allura and Coran entered the room, stumbling upon the half Galra once again on the floor, purple ears on display.

Keith decided that enough was enough. He didn't want to stay around for what he knew was coming. Scrambling, he got up on his feet and ran away, not paying attention to the others crying out his name. He dashed into his room and locked it behind him, even disabling the hand print pad so no one could get in. The red Paladin (ex-Paladin, he reminded himself) curled up on his bed, letting out slight sobs.

Keith never was one to cry, even when he was a baby. The only time he could remember that he did was when the mission Shiro, Matt, and Matt's father were on was declared a failure. Pilot error, the media and scientists said. He locked himself up in his dorm room, crying over the loss of both his friends, but especially for Shiro.
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Shiro hadn't moved an inch from his spot, not even when Keith fled the room. All he could think about right now was those pointed purple ears sprouting from Keith's black hair, or the vibrant purple irises or the slightly yellowed edges of the irises.

“He's...” Pidge said smartly.

“He's becoming like them,” Allura's harsh voice bounced off the kitchen walls.

“He can't be!” Hunk said, looking around wildy. “Keith wouldn't...”

“You could see it clearly. He's physically transforming into a Galra.”

“The Empire must've done something,” Shiro said, his quiet voice instantly silencing the others. The leader of Voltron stood up. “He's scared, couldn't you tell Allura? He doesn't want this.”

Pidge nodded. “He didn't want us to know. Remember how we reacted when he told us about his half Galra heritage? He was ashamed to let us know, cuz all of us have had bad experiences with the Galra. He's still Keith we know.”

“You sound so sure,” the Altean princess said icily. “I want him off the ship.” She stomped away. Coran stared after her worriedly.

“I'll... help change her mind,” he said distantly, not even sounding like his normal self. He hurried after her.

“We need to go after Keith,” Shiro said after a minute.

“I think he wants to be alone right now,” Pidge responded. “I mean... if it were me, I would.”

“He needs to know we're not afraid or disgusted by him,” Shiro shot back. He left the room, walking fast.

Shiro knew, even if Keith ended up looking like a Galra, he wouldn't care about his appearance. He remembers vividly, the young boy he once was. The loner kid who got picked on cuz he had no parents. He reached out his hand to the boy, who ignored him. It took forever to gain his trust and friendship. He wasn't about to ruin it just because some witch decided to attempt to tear them apart.

He loved Keith too much to give up on him.

The oldest Paladin came to a stop outside of Keith's door, noticing that the activation pad was not lit. He tested the doorknob and sure enough it was locked.

“Keith,” he called out, hearing instead of seeing the other Paladins coming around the corner.

“Go away,” came the muffled voice.

“Keith, listen to me.”

“I SAID GO AWAY!”

“AND I SAY THAT WE DO NOT CARE IF YOU ARE GALRA OR NOT!” Shiro yelled back, startling the younger teens. He heard Keith go silent and he let out a sigh. “I don't know what happened to cause this but it doesn't matter. It isn't your fault. Despite our past with the Galra, we do know that there are good Galra out there. Look at your mother, Krolia. Kolivan, and the rest of the Blades. They're fighting on our side, working with us toward a future with peace. So what if you are going to turn purple and look like a space cat? You're still our Keith.”

Once he finished with his rant, he heard the sound of giggles coming from his other teammates. Then he realized what he said and he groaned, flushing.

“S-space cat?” Lance howled.

“A-accurate,” Pidge breathed.

“Y-you don't understand.....” Keith said, his voice lowered.

“I don't have to. I'm sure the witch had told you that you becoming Galra would tear us apart. Maybe, if we weren't so close, that would have happened, but we know you.”

“I'm with Shiro,” Hunk butted in. “I don't know you as well as Shiro does, but over the year we've been piloting Voltron, you became a dear friend to me. An appearance change isn't gonna stop me from being your friend.”

Pidge and Lance voiced their agreement, still trying to rein in their laughter. Shiro beamed at the three younger Paladins and he turned back toward the door.

“You don't have to let us in right now, but just know we don't care. Galra or human or both, we love you for who you are.”

He gestured for the three of them to follow him, wanting to go talk to Allura.
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Keith gaped at his door, even after they had left. He rubbed a hand over his eyes, sniffling. He couldn't believe those idiots. But he was also grateful for them coming after him. Now he had no doubt of what would happen if they were to find out of his transformation.

He pulled his hand back from his face and noticed that his skin was lightly tinged with purple. Not quite the dark purple that full-blooded Galra had but more like a lavender. He squeezed his hand into a fist. It didn't make the transformation any better, what his friends had said, but it made it a little more bearable. After all, he had been considering going through the full transformation before he got captured by the Empire.

Keith stayed in his room the rest of the day, watching his skin slowly turn lavender, watching as the tips of his fingers curled into claws. He could feel his organs shifting and that caused the most pain. He had to crawl over to the bathroom and heave into the toilet, resting his head against the cool metal. He stayed there for what felt like hours, in case he was sick again.

Shiro, Pidge, Hunk, and Lance kept checking in on him, sending him comforting words and reminding him that they weren't going anywhere. Later that evening, Coran and Allura visited him. Allura apologized for how she reacted and that she didn't blame him at all. That almost sent Keith into tears but he gulped them down. The changes in his body must've made him more emotional than ever.

He couldn't sleep at all through the night. Not with the major changes. His insides seemed to stop moving, thankfully. Every hour, he got up to look at himself in the bathroom mirror, to see what new changes were going on.

His eyes, as Shiro had said, were a beautiful purple color, with the whites of his eyes completely gone and replaced with a dull yellow color. At least his eyes weren't like Zarkon, he thought to himself. The ears poking through his hair were still the same but were covered in purple fur, with longer strands on the tips of his ears. The entirety of his skin was now a lavender color and his blood vessels stuck out like a black tattoo all over. His face seemed more angular and stripped of baby fat. He now had two identical dark puple Galra marks on his cheeks, one on each side. It started right under his eye, swooped along his cheek and across his neck. He did notice with this new report that he was growing taller, nearly reaching the appropriate height of a Galra. His chest was more defined, covered with a patch of slightly darker purple fur. The fur stayed clear of his face but it covered the most of his body, including his arms and legs. It was soft to the touch and sensitive. His arms and legs didn't change, other than growing longer and the claws that tipped his fingers and toes. He was happy to report that he didn't grow a tail, though he factored that it was due to his mother's Galra genes that he didn't get one.

Once the sun rose, he was relieved when he didn't see any more changes other than his senses. It seemed like someone turned all of them up to high. The bright lights hurt his new eyesight and he could hear a lot better than before. His sense of smell was greatly increased, picking up on scents easier. He swears he can even smell whoever is outside his door, which weirded him out.

Keith took a shower after resting a little longer, the warm water making him feel better. There were no more throbs of pain or soreness, which improved his mood a lot. Pulling on clothes, he stares at his bedroom door. He knows he needs to show himself sooner or later but a part of him is still scared of what everyone else will think, despite the repeated assurances they still cared for him. The Galra halfbreed shook himself, reactivated the hand scanner, and unlocked his door.

He was not expecting the rest of the Paladins and the two Alteans right outside his door. He froze in place, watching anxiously as they eyed him over.

“Dude, you don't have a tail!” Lance shouted. “There goes my image of you actually being a space cat.”

Keith felt his lips twitch slightly. He shot Shiro a look, who was blushing. “Space cat?”

Shiro looked away briefly but met Keith's eyes, stepping forward slightly. He raised a hand and let it fall on Keith's shoulder. “See? We're still here.”

Keith smiled slightly and his eyes roamed over the others, who were smiling back at him. This was his family, outside of the Blades and his biological mother. And he wouldn't trade them for anything.