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Keith woke in a sweat, sitting straight up in bed, his breathing hard. Shiro sat up beside him, wrapping his arms around him. Once he calmed down, Shiro dared asked what was wrong.
“I miss him,” Keith whispered. “We fought after you left. I-I shouldn’t have said what I did. What if we never see him again?” Knowing who he was talking about, the older man just held his adopted brother closer, gently stroking the back of his hair. He pressed a kiss to the top of his head.
“I know,” he murmured. “I miss him, too.” Shiro missed him so much. He should’ve made up with Adam before they left, but the other man hadn’t wanted to. He had ended their relationship before they left, refusing to be there when he got back.
After a while, Shiro soothed Keith back to sleep. He gently laid down on the bed with him, staring out the window into the vast expanse of space. He really wished he could communicate with him somehow and talk to him about this. He missed him so much and could never forget anything they did together. He made a resolve with himself.
If they got back to Earth-no, when they got back to Earth, he would talk to Adam. He would tell him how much he loved him. And, maybe it would take a while, or maybe Adam wouldn’t accept him back, but he would apologize. And, hopefully, things would be resolved.
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“Adam, may I speak with you?” Said man looked up to see Sam Holt standing there, someone who had gone to space on the Kerberos mission with Takashi. He hadn’t spoken to him yet, not sure he wanted to know.
“Yes, sir.” The other man smiled a little and sat down beside him.
“No need to use formalities with me. Before I came back to Earth, I was on a ship with my daughter, two kids from the Garrison, two aliens, and Keith and Shiro. The kids each made a recording for me to give to their families. Shiro and Keith recorded this for you.” He held a device out to him. Adam stared down at his hand for a moment before reaching forward to take the device from him. “From experience, I think you should watch it, though it’s your choice. You never know what could happen to them.”
“Thank you,” he managed. The older man nodded and left him sitting there, fingering the device in his hand. He finally sighed and put the thing in his pocket. He’d look at it when he got home that night.
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Before Adam could think too long about it once he arrived back at his apartment, he turned the device on and sat down as Takashi and Keith showed up, sitting down on a bed in a small room. Behind them, he could see the stars from space out the window. He took in the two of them in a moment.
Takashi had a patch of white hair in his black hair. He had a scar across his nose and Adam couldn’t ignore the metal arm in the place of his former, injured arm. Keith was sitting against him, resting against his shoulder. He looked tired and worn down, playing with his knife in his hands-the knife he’d gotten from his mother. It seemed almost like a normal day at their apartment, but Adam knew he was alone, knew that they weren’t really there with him.
“Hey, Adam,” Takashi greeted, a smile ghosting his lips for just a moment. “It’s been a while. We’ve been in space for months now. You’d really like the other paladins and the Alteans that live here. I hope Sam gave this to you and that he’s safe back at home. He’s been through plenty already. He deserves to be home.” Keith scoffed.
“Yeah, so do you,” he said, quietly. Takashi rubbed his back a little, sighing as he rubbed his face a little with his other hand.
“We’ve had a long week, so excuse Keith’s tired behavior. You know how he gets.” Adam felt his heart clench at those words. Yeah, he knew how Keith got because they used to all live together. As a family. But they weren’t there anymore. They were in space! This was crazy. “Well, we shouldn’t keep you long. There were a few things we wanted to say.” He looked back at the ravenette. Keith sighed and glanced up at the camera, looking through the lens for just a moment that Adam really felt he was looking at him, his breath catching in his throat for that moment. Keith looked away.
“I’m half alien,” he said quietly, fingering down his blade. “My mother was an alien. We think she’s dead.” Takashi wrapped his arm around the younger boy’s shoulders, squeezing gently. He looked back at the camera.
“I don’t know what’s gonna happen in this battle,” he told him. “I don’t know if we’re gonna make it back. I hope we do, but I have no idea. And because I don’t know, I want to tell you what I’ve been thinking about this whole time.” He was quiet for a moment. “I’m so sorry about what happened. If I could’ve stayed, I would’ve. I wanted to stay with you, but I knew they needed help. I needed to go with them. I’m sorry about how we left everything. I should’ve tried harder to talk to you. We’re gonna try out best from over here. I love you.” The recording stopped.
Adam stared at the projection that was left. Takashi was looking back at Keith, who was practically asleep on his shoulder, with a small fond smile on his face. In that moment, Adam regretted everything. He never should’ve fought with Keith. He never should’ve fought with Takashi. Either of them could die. Both of them could die. And he wouldn’t ever tell them that he was wrong.
As soon as they got back-if they got back-he was going to talk this out with them.
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When the lions landed on Earth at the Garrison, Adam was standing in an upper window of the building. Knowing he didn’t have time to get down there before the paladins came inside, he went downstairs to the meeting room, slipping silently in after the meeting had already started. He felt his heart race a little when he saw Takashi, the man’s hair now complete a white-gray color. Something had happened.
“So, you finished your battle,” Iverson stated. “Unlike last time you visited.” Adam had been gone last time they’d come to ask for help to defeat the Galra.
“We’re done,” Keith stated. “I don’t see why we’re still here. The others all have families that they want to see.” Takashi set his hand on the boy’s shoulder, which calmed him down. Adam realized something about Keith, too. He looked older, a few years older, than when he’d last seen him. Something had happened to him, too. He needed to figure out what had happened.
“We have a few questions for each of you first,” Iverson spoke up. “Alone.” Keith was about to stand, wanting to protest, but with another look from Takashi, he was quiet. “Williams!” the man barked. Adam looked up as the man called his last name. “Please, escort McClain, Garrett, and Holt to the waiting room. I’m sure the other two will not be parting.” Adam nodded to the man.
“Yes, sir.” The others stood and followed him out of the room and into the other room. Lance sat down with a huff.
“Is there any way we can hear them?” he asked. Adam silently walked to the door and pressed a button, so that they could hear what was going on in the other room. He knew he shouldn’t be listening, but he wanted to know some of what happened to Takashi and Keith.
“What happened up there?” Iverson started with. “You came back with one less team member. The female Altean, if I remember. What happened to her?”
“She died,” Keith stated, voice cold. “She sacrificed herself. Is this really necessary?”
“Yes, it is, Kogane,” he snapped back. “Sit down and be quiet unless you have something important to say.” Takashi sighed.
“She died,” he said. Adam closed his eyes. He’d watched the video over and over again, but hearing him saying different words-in real life-made him want to cry. He just needed to talk to him. “But that doesn’t matter to you. I agree with Keith. This is unnecessary. They’ve been waiting over a year to see their families. You can’t keep them away from them like this.” It was quiet for a moment before the door beside Adam nodded and Takashi and Keith stepped into the room.
“You can go now,” Keith told them. Hunk and Pidge were up and gone in the next moment. Lance stood and walked over to the ravenette, taking his hands.
“You’ll be okay while I’m gone?” he asked. “I could always wait until they get here.” Keith shook his head.
“Go be with your sisters.” The Cuban nodded and leaned forward to kiss him. He pulled him into a tight hug before pulling back, offering him a smile.
“I’ll see you later. I love you.” Keith couldn’t bring himself to say it back. He’d only ever seen heartbreak from real love. His parents. His mother had left them. And Shiro and Adam. He was too afraid to let himself say it yet. And Lance was okay with that. He understood. “I know,” the former Blue Paladin said when Keith opened his mouth to say something. “I’ll come find you later.”
“Bye, Lance.” He smiled a little wider before turning to leave. Keith glanced back at Shiro, who’d looked back at him.
“He really does love you, you know,” he said. The smaller paladin nodded, glancing back at the doorway where his boyfriend had disappeared through. He really loved him, too.
“I know.”
“Takashi,” Adam said softly, catching the two paladin’s attention. They looked back at him and glanced back at each other. They knew this was coming, but they were both nervous about it. They were all nervous about it.
“We shouldn’t talk about this here,” Shiro told him. He nodded.
“We could go back to the apartment.” He was hesitant to call it home. Did Takashi or Keith even consider it that anymore? Would they ever again? Thankfully, though, the two of them agreed to go. They were going to finally talk this through.
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Once they were inside, Adam sat on one couch and the other two were sitting on a couch across from him. It hurt that they wouldn’t sit by him. Did they trust him? Would they ever trust him again?
“You got our message,” Shiro finally spoke up, seeing the device sitting on the coffee table. Adam nodded, not really sure what to say or how to even go about this. What if they hated him? He wasn’t sure if he could handle that. But he also knew that they wouldn’t be there if they didn’t want to try and fix this.
The room was filled with silence. Adam couldn’t get himself to look up at the other two. He kept his eyes down, looking at the coffee table. He felt so guilty about what happened. He’d pushed Takashi away because he hadn’t wanted to be hurt. He had hoped that he would come to his senses and not go, but it was one reason why he had loved his boyfriend so much. He couldn’t let people risk their lives without helping where it was needed. There was no way he wasn’t going to go, so Adam never should’ve said anything.
And with those thoughts, he couldn’t take it anymore. He’d tried not to cry since they left, but he couldn’t keep it in now. A choked sob escaped his lips. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes tightly.
“Gosh, ‘Kashi. I had no idea what happened to you. You could’ve been dead, for all I knew.” Another few sobs wracked his body. Shiro stood from his seat and sat down beside the other, pulling him into his arms, shushing him to try and soothe him.
“It’s okay,” he murmured, rubbing his back gently. “It’s okay. We’re back now.” Adam sobbed into his shoulder a little bit before trying to calm himself.
“I was so selfish,” he continued. “I never should’ve asked you to stay. I’m so sorry.”
“I know. It’s okay.” Shiro held his boyfriend as he broke down, sobbing into his chest. He was going to be there for him. This had obviously affected more than just them. It affected the people on Earth so much, too. Keith watched them silently from the other couch, unsure of what to do at that time. He didn’t want to intrude. So, he got up instead, and left the room. He would figure it out later.
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In the morning, Shiro found himself with Adam pressed against his side, his head in the older’s shoulder. They’d fallen asleep on the couch after Shiro had calmed him down. And he realized Keith had left. He reached over and picked up the phone, typing in his younger brother’s phone number and brought the phone to his ear.
It rang and rang and rang until declaring that this was Keith’s phone and to leave a message after the beep, which he did.
“Hey, Keith. We were worried about you and wondering where you were. When you get this, please head home. I think we need to talk about a few things. If you’re with Lance, just call me back and let me know, but I wanna make sure you’re okay. I’ll see you soon, okay? Bye.” He ended the call and set the phone back in its holder. He turned back to Adam, finding the other man awake. He offered a smile, running a hand through his hair.
“Do you think he’s okay?” Adam asked quietly. He nodded a little, glancing back at the door. He wanted Keith to come home, but he could wait.
“I’m sure he’ll be fine. He’s either on his own somewhere or with Lance. He’ll be okay either way.”
“Are you sure? I’m sorry. It’s probably my fault.” Shiro gently pulled his boyfriend’s face to look up at him, brushing his thumb over his cheek.
“It’s not your fault, Adam. He went through a lot. He’s gonna need some time to heal. On his own and with our help. He’ll come to us when he needs us, okay?” He nodded. Shiro reached over to the coffee table and grabbed the other’s glasses, placing them on his face. “We should make breakfast.”
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Keith was gone all day before showing up around dinner time. Shiro was making dinner and told Adam that he should go talk to the other. Reluctantly, he left the kitchen and walked back into the living room, sitting down near Keith.
“I’m sorry for yelling at you,” he told the younger male. “I shouldn’t have yelled and I shouldn’t have let you leave. You were alone before finding Takashi. You should’ve been here.” The paladin looked up at him, meeting his eyes for a few moments before he looked away, wrapping his arms around himself.
“Can you really stand me being here?” he whispered.
“What do you mean?” Adam asked, scooting a little closer. Keith closed his eyes, turning his head away.
“I’m part alien. I’ve been living here for so long and you didn’t even know. I didn’t even know,” he whispered the last part. He sounded so lost, so confused, and that hurt Adam even more. Was he afraid he’d hate him? That he’d be disgusted by him?
“Keith, of course I can stand you being here. I like that you’re here. I don’t just care about Takashi. I care about you, too.” He moved to sit closer to him, wrapping his arm around Keith’s shoulders. “I don’t really know how you feel. I haven’t been with you this whole time. But I wanna help you. If you’ll let me.” Keith looked back at him again.
“I’m sorry I argued with you. You were the only person I had left. I was just so angry. I didn’t know what to do. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. I yelled right back, which wasn’t okay. But Takashi and I are both here right now. We’re gonna be here for you when you need us.” The smaller of the two nodded and curled into his side, resting his head on the other’s shoulder. Adam stroked the back of his head, pressing a kiss to his temple. “We’re gonna be right here.”
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A year later, Adam was back to his perfect life, with a few new added members, too. Takashi was close to Matt, who came over often to talk to him and Keith, who’d become closer to him after a while. Pidge came along with him, having nothing else to do, and hung out for a long time. She and Keith were actually pretty close and enjoyed just sitting together, talking about random things that no one knew anything about.
Lance pretty much lived there now, having become very romantically close to Keith. And Hunk was over because he was Lance’s best friend. Adam had been a little overwhelmed at first, but he started to consider them all his family. He had a big, true family now. He loved it.
“What’re you thinking about?” Shiro murmured, pressing a kiss to Adam’s ear. “You look lost in thought.” He hummed in response.
“I love you.” Shiro smiled and kissed him.
“I love you, too.” Yes, everything was going to be okay.