Chapter Text
The witch’s hatred for Keith truly ran deep. Keith was well aware, after a couple of face-offs with Haggar (or rather, her robeasts) since Earth’s liberation, that she didn’t merely intend to kill Keith or Shiro, as she did the other paladins. Ever since her humiliation when Keith defeated Kuro, she’s had a personal vendetta against the both of them. She wanted to see them suffer. She wanted Shiro to spend all eternity as her champion, killing and slaughtering and maiming until it was first nature to him, until he was unrecognizable, both mentally and physically. She wanted to replace his body parts one by one with Galra prosthetics until he was an unstoppable tool of death. She wanted Keith to see it all, to live out the rest of his days chained up at her feet, slowly slipping into insanity as he watched everything he loved fade away as if it never existed. Keith knew this because Haggar had told him herself, on the day that she implemented phase one of her sadistic plan.
Earth had been operating as an intergalactic stronghold against the Galra for nearly six months. Just long enough for the planet to begin to stabilize and recover from the Galran reign. The witch had sent two more robeasts in that time, both of which had been defeated with the joint efforts of Voltron, Atlas, and the fighter pilots. The Garrison now housed three Alteans with little to no memories of their lives before they’d been pried from the chests of the robeasts. They’d all been drained and weak; it’d been clear that Haggar had found a way to convert their quintessence into power sources for the robeasts.
They began to grow relatively comfortable. Earth was more or less safe; they managed to thwart every robeast attack with no casualties. They fell into an easy routine. That was before Shiro and the latest Altean had vanished overnight, using a Garrison shuttle pod to make their getaway.
Six months, Keith had gotten with Shiro. Six beautiful, perfect, wonderful months, Keith spent with Shiro and the others on Earth, growing more hopeful for the end of the war with each passing day. Krolia and Kolivan were the leaders of the Blade of Marmora, and had found a good amount of blade members. Allura, Coran, and Romelle had only just gotten used to Earth, had taken to calling it ‘home’, as had many other displaced refugee species. Pidge and Matt were operations officers of the rebel coalition. Hunk and Lance got to rebuild relationships with their families, and finally got promoted to officers, gaining the recognition and respect they deserved. Shiro had become the esteemed captain of the Altlas, and he’d made great progress in recovering from the loss of Adam. He and Keith had been closer than ever, and Keith had even begun to grow hopeful that Shiro had feelings for him, as he’d had for the other for years.
The witch ruined it all.
They didn’t even have security footage to go off of; the Altean had fried the cameras’ power sources. No one knew whether Shiro left willingly, or if the Altean had kidnapped him, or if someone had kidnapped them both….
The others weren’t doing well with Shiro’s disappearance, but Keith was a mess. Shiro was the one person who’d always been there for him, completely selflessly. He kept leaving him, and it was starting to put a strain on Keith’s permanent mental state. He’d frantically tried to use communications and tracking to find Shiro and neither had been successful. He’d tried to take the Black Lion into space after him, but the lion’s particle barrier refused to allow him through, which it hadn’t done since before the fight against Zarkon all those years ago. He’d tried to make off with a shuttle pod as well, but he’d been caught, and had been dragged away, kicking and screaming. They’d had to lock him in a stone room in the Garrison. He’d been given a couple hours to cool down, then his friends -the other four paladins - had been allowed in to speak to him, to try to talk him down. It had taken some convincing for Keith to calm down and approach the problem logically, but none of them faulted him. They all knew how much Shiro meant to him.
“He wouldn’t have left willingly,” Keith insisted, “not without telling me.”
“We know, Keith.” Hunk said gently, lifting his arms in a placating gesture.
“We’re going to find him.” Pidge said, hesitantly taking his hand, then squeezing it tight when he showed no resistance. “We always do.”
Allura stepped forward, her face set in determination. “He would never give up on us. We aren’t giving up on him.”
Keith had calmed down considerably, but his thoughts were still spastic with worry. He still felt like a flight risk, even to himself.
“Guys,” Lance said quietly, “can I talk to Keith for a minute?”
The others glanced at Keith solemnly, then nodded and stepped out, allowing them some privacy. Keith heaved a weary sigh, crossing his arms.
“Lance, I get that you’re pissed at me for trying to leave without you guys, but -“
“I’m not mad.” Lance interrupted. He crossed his arms too, tapping his finger on his elbow and contemplating what to say. Keith quirked an eyebrow in surprise; he’d expected Lance to knock some sense into him. He knew he probably deserved it. Finally, Lance uncrossed his arms and leaned against the wall, sliding down it to sit on the floor. Keith eyed him scrupulously before copying him on the opposite wall.
“We’ve been on Earth too long.” Lance began, once again surprising Keith. He’d missed Earth the most of any of them. “What I mean is: we’re a little out of touch. You were a great leader, Keith, in space, and while freeing Earth. But… Voltron hasn’t really been Voltron in a while. Not like it was. I guess I’m trying to tell you that you can’t forget the progress you made. We’re still your team, Keith. You have to trust us. We’re scared, too. The others - Pidge, Hunk, Allura - and me, we all need you to stay focused. Shiro needs you to stay focused. The best way you can help him is to keep being the leader I know you’re capable of being, the one that Shiro taught you to be. We’ll find him together, Keith. Just like we overcome every obstacle.”
Keith felt frustrated wetness gathering in his eyes, but he refused to let it fall. He knew Lance was right. Damn it. When had he become more than an occasionally useful pain in the neck?
“You can’t act like this in front of them.” Lance continued. “Not just them, but the whole Garrison. A lot of people look up to you, Keith. Senior officers look up to you. If you can’t keep a level head, then they won’t be able to, either. I know it sucks, but you have to hold your head high and put on a show for them. That’s the burden of leadership.”
Keith continued to frown at the ceiling, but Lance’s words were hitting home.
“I don’t think I’ve told you,” Keith said after a long moment, “but you’re a great second in command. I do trust you, Lance. You and all the others. I shouldn’t have made you feel otherwise. I’m sorry.”
Lance popped up at that, donning a smug grin, “No biggie, I do what’s gotta be done. Just my paladin-ly duties.” Keith knew that Lance was acting like his usual dorky self in an attempt at comfort, and he appreciated it, but it didn’t give him much comfort. He needed to be out there looking for Shiro. He swiped quickly at his eyes with his sleeve, then picked himself up and squared his jaw.
“Thank you, Lance. I mean it. Now let’s get to work.”
————————————————
And so they did. For the next couple of weeks, under Keith’s guidance, the Garrison and the rebels scoured the known universe for any sign of Shiro, or the pod, or Haggar, or displaced Alteans. It was hard work, many sleepless nights, and a lot of disappointment. But Keith took Lance’s words to heart and did what Shiro wanted and needed him to do. He was sharp and focused and strong whenever anyone was watching. He only cried alone between the hours of work and of fitful sleep, leaning against the particle barrier of the Black Lion. A few times, Lance would show up with some food or just his company, and Keith, despite their difficulties in past years, knew that he could drop his stony façade around Lance. Every leader needed someone to drop the act with, and Keith’s usual confidant… was lost. Lance had become a good friend.
Half a month passed before their hard work paid off. Keith and Lance were leaning against the barrier of the Black Lion one night, when it vanished out from under them, and they landed on their backs with surprised “oomph!”s. Their wide eyes met briefly, and Keith’s gaze flickered up to his lion.
“Are you gonna go?” Lance asked.
Keith bit his lip, contemplating his waiting lion, then shook his head decisively. “No. Not yet, at least. We need to communicate with the Garrison first. Can you round up the team and have them meet us in the board room?”
Lance grinned. “On it,” he said, then stood and tore off in the direction of the barracks.
Keith looked at the infinitely star-filled sky. “I’m coming, Shiro.” He promised, then picked himself up and made to find Iverson to find out what development had occurred that Black thought it was finally time for him to leave.
———————————————
“Your diligence has paid off, Kogane. The Blade of Marmora has located the abandoned pod. Shirogane can’t be far.”
———————————————
“We haven’t been in a space fight in a while.” Lance commented on the right flank.
“We haven’t been in space in a while.” Hunk added from the left, sounding nauseous. In his defense, they were traveling at warp speed in their lions.
“Yes,” Agreed Allura, “it’s been almost six pheebs since we’ve left inner space.”
“Guys, we spent years in outer space, remember?” Said Pidge, a shrug in her voice. “We’re fine. Besides, who knows? We might not have to fight anyone.”
“There’ll be a fight,” Keith assured her, “the witch has him, I know it. We have to go in this with the mindset that we’re up for one of the most intense fights of our lives.”
There was an uncomfortable silence on the comms. Then Pidge breathed, “Oh.”
“Look, I know it’s not ideal,” said Keith, gritting his teeth, “but it’s Shiro we’re fighting for. We have to win. We don’t have a choice.”
The silence of the comms was bridled with doubt.
“Keith is right.” Allura finally said. “Shiro - all of you - stormed Zarkon’s central command to save me. He would’ve done it for any of you, too. We must fight with the same perseverance for him.”
There was no breathing room for this fight. Nearly a year ago, just one Druid had come close to taking out the entire team. Now, they’d be facing off against dozens, including their master. Hunk seemed to be thinking the same thing.
“Didn’t one Druid, like, almost wipe out the Blade? And we’re facing a bunch… Not saying we shouldn’t save Shiro, but shouldn’t we make some sort of plan? I mean, what if it’s a trap? How are we gonna beat that many Druids when we almost didn’t beat just one?”
Keith could feel the others’ gazes on him. Clenching his jaw, he turned on the video feed, streaming to the other paladins. “This time, we have two things we didn’t have last time: Voltron, and the proper motivation. I have a plan, team, but there’s no time to discuss it. I need you all to trust me, alright?”
“Roger that.” Said Lance.
“Ten-four.” Said Hunk.
“Gotcha.”
“Understood.”
“Good.” said Keith, leaning forward in his seat to turn off the video feed. “Get ready, team, coming up on the coordinates in a couple dobashes.”
———————————————
The coordinates led them to the abandoned pod, which they used the last locked-onto coordinates of to find where the witch was keeping Shiro. It was clear that it hadn’t been a trap after all, that Haggar and the Druids hadn’t expected to be found. Still, even with the element of surprise, the Druids were extremely difficult to defeat. Luckily, there were only a dozen or so aboard the Galra ship, and the others kept them busy while Pidge made sure they couldn’t call for help and Keith went in search of Haggar, the biggest threat.
When Keith found her, she gave him a hell of a fight, even with him in his lion. It reminded Keith of when he’d been an amateur and tried to take on Zarkon on his own. If the Druids hadn’t been distracted and the robot sentries not shut down, Keith wouldn’t have been able to survive, much less hold his own. Through goading throughout the fight, Keith managed to extract some information from her: she’d relocated Lotor’s colony of Alteans and was harvesting their quintessence. Some, she used for her experiments, like the robeasts.
Eventually, Keith had to exit his lion to battle her face to face, and there was one terrifying moment when she’d beaten him to his knees. She’d yanked his hair back, forcing him to make eye contact with her, and that’s when she’d told him. What she wanted to do to him and Shiro. It gave Keith a sick feeling about what might’ve been happening to Shiro over the past weeks, and he had to resist the urge to vomit. Before she could deliver a deadly strike unto Keith, she reared back, dodging a beam from above. Keith looked up - it was the Green Lion, and the others were joining it. They’d defeated the Druids.
Haggar, recognizing defeat, glared at Keith, and he glared back, pushing himself off the ground.
“I’ll admit, Red Paladin, that I didn’t inflict near as much damage on your precious Shiro as I’d have liked. Even so, you can have him back as is. It’s enough damage for you.”
And with one last cackle, she shimmered and vanished. Keith tried not to feel too disappointed that she lived; the main objective was to free her prisoners - namely, Shiro. Keith made his way to his lion.
“Pidge, have you located the prisoners?” He asked through gritted teeth, trembling with rage and fear at the thought of what type of damage she’d inflicted upon Shiro. ‘Enough damage for you,’ she’d said. What was that supposed to mean?
“I think so. Follow me!”
Pidge led them to the prisoner hold, which, once they’d created an entrance to, was a sad and startling sight to behold. Ten or so terrified and traumatized Alteans were crammed into a few cells, some battered and unconscious, some looking like they faced the gallows. And in a cell of his own, unconscious on the grimy floor, was Shiro.
Keith leapt from his lion in a blind panic, using his bayard to slice his way in. “Shiro!” He shouted, skidding to his knees and tugging the larger man into his arms. He scanned over Shiro’s form, but there didn’t appear to be any of the physical horrors that Haggar had threatened. But his mind…? It couldn’t be too bad. She hadn’t had him that long, Keith told himself.
“Shiro!” He said loudly, shaking him frantically. “Shiro, wake up, please! Shiro!”
It took Keith a few moments to realize that someone was calling his name, too. It was Pidge. “We don’t have time, the ship’s systems are back up and there’ll be reinforcements coming any minute!”
Hunk ran to Keith’s side, helping him haul up Shiro’s limp form and carry him to the Black Lion. There were two shaken Alteans already in it. Keith lowered Shiro to the floor as gently as he could while in a haste.
“Look after him, please,” Keith said to the wide-eyed Alteans, “just until we’re in the clear.”
One of them had the presence of mind to nod and crouch down to tend to Shiro. Partially relieved, Keith hopped into his pilot’s seat, took a deep breath, and remembered his and Lance’s conversation weeks ago. He swallowed down his panic and anger and grabbed hold of his toggles. “I’m secure. Everyone?”
“Red Lion, secure.” Said Lance, panting with exertion.
“Blue Lion, secure.”
“Yellow Lion, secure.”
Keith waited a beat. “Green Lion?”
No reply.
“Pidge!” Keith called.
“Sorry, I - one of my passengers is freaking out, I - I don’t know what to do! She doesn’t want to get in the lion!”
“Pidge, you have to secure her!” Said Keith urgently. “An incapacitated Altean is better than a dead one, do you understand?”
“I - I’m -“
“Pidge!”
There was a moment of quiet, then a dull thud. Seconds later, Pidge, sounding startled, said, “Green Lion, secure.”
“Let’s go!” Keith yelled, punching the throttle.
———————————————
The journey home felt much longer than the journey there, though it couldn’t have lasted more than a couple of vargas. Once Keith was sure they weren’t being pursued, he told Lance to lead the formation, put his lion on autopilot, and checked on Shiro.
“H-He seems healthy,” said the male Altean, who seemed much more lucid than the girl, “just exhausted. There’s no telling what kind of experiments the witch was preforming on him.”
Keith checked all his vitals anyway, and found the Altean to be correct. Resolved that he’d just have to wait for Shiro to wake to find out if he was really okay, Keith talked to the Altean. Maybe he could offer some insight as to what might’ve happened.
“I am Tokkan.” the boy introduced. “The girl, she is my friend Fenilla. Or… she was. The more the witch experimented on her, the more her consciousness slipped away. She does not realize much of what is around her anymore.”
Keith glanced at Fenilla, who was hugging her knees on the floor, repeating something quietly in Altean.
“We are Voltron.” Keith said, well aware that it was likely that none of the Alteans had ever heard of Voltron. “We fight against the Galra Empire - evil people like the witch, Haggar - and for the freedom of the universe. My name is Keith. We’re taking you to a safe place, and we’ll do our best to help you and the rest of your people.”
Tokkan smiled weakly. During the ride to Earth, the boy told Keith about Haggar’s manipulation of the Altean colony. How they worshipped her, and to be ‘taken on as one of her apprentices’ was considered a high honor. None of the ‘apprentices’ were ever heard from again, and Tokkan discovered why when he himself was selected and was taken as a prisoner aboard that ship with the others, awaiting experimentation. Luckily for him, he’d only been there for one night before Voltron rescued them.
“Fenilla was taken almost a phoebe before me.” Tokkan said sadly.
Keith did some quick math. If Shiro had been gone half as long as Fenilla, that meant he was half as damaged. That wasn’t very hopeful, considering she was still rocking in a corner, whispering in a foreign tongue. Not to mention that Haggar held a grudge against Shiro. But… people could gain their sanity back, Keith had seen it before. He’d just have to stick by Shiro’s side, and he’d be okay. He had to be.
——————————————
“Galaxy Garrison, this is Officer Kogane of the Voltron paladins, five lions requesting permission to land.”
“Roger that, Officer Kogane. Permission granted.”
———————————————
As soon as the lions’ jaws opened, medical teams rushed in to help. Keith only focused on one patient.
———————————————
Five paladins and Coran stood nervously around a prone form in a hospital bed. It had been hours since they’d made it back to Earth, and the doctors said Shiro could regain consciousness any minute. Physically, he was fine. The rest remained to be seen.
The room’s occupants absentmindedly watched the TV, sneaking frequent glances at Shiro, hoping to see him sitting up and well. It finally happened just after nightfall.
A weak groan that had them all whipping around. Then, “Coran? Uh, a little personal space please?”
“Oh! Right.” Said Coran, who’d been studying Shiro rather closely. He retreated a few steps. Everyone continued to hold their breath.
“What’s the last thing you remember?” Pidge asked.
Shiro hummed, his throat raspy. Hunk, who was closest, passed him the cup of water on his bedside. Shiro downed it in seconds.
“Thanks, Hunk. The Altean girl from the latest robeast… she’d gone all blank. Like she didn’t know what she was doing. She attacked me; she must’ve knocked me out. I woke up as a prisoner. Haggar… she used some kind of powers on me. She seemed to think whatever she was doing was going to make me miserable, but I feel fine.”
“So,” Keith cleared his throat, and Shiro turned to face him, his expression strange. “So, you’re not… insane?”
Shiro frowned thoughtfully. “No, I feel the same as when I left. I’m not sure what she did to me, but I’m sane.”
“The doctors say you’re physically fine, too.” Said Allura hopefully, smiling. “That’s a relief, we were so worried about you.”
“Yeah,” Lance chuckled, “especially Keith.”
“Keith?” Shiro lifted an eyebrow in confusion. “Who’s Keith?”