Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Adam had never planned on being a Guardian. If you had asked him at eighteen if having a child was in his life plan he might have told you that maybe someday when he found the right partner.

But then Lance happened.

The Altean witch coven was not large, their total numbers tended to hover between forty and fifty. Certainly nothing compared to the thousands of the Galran coven.

Adam had wanted to be a leader of a branch of the coven. But he never imagined it would be like this. Or he would be so young.

Lance was only six when his parents died. He had gone form being the youngest of five to an only child with no one left in the world. The boy barely spoke a word of English.

Adam couldn’t say no.

Not because Alfor forced him, but because he knew he wouldn’t live with himself if he did.

Besides, it was nice to have someone else to speak Spanish to.

Hunk came later. He was age eleven. Lance was around ten at the time. Katie, or Pidge as she preferred, was a two for one deal with her brother Matt a year later. Matt was the oldest of the four, being two years older than Hunk, and Pidge was six months younger than Lance.

Adam was worried at first that Black wouldn’t like Matt’s familiar. A sandy brown lab puppy and a raven black panther weren’t something you’d think would make good housemates.

But Black, as pragmatic as ever, sniffed the pup once and then proceeded to forcibly give it a thorough cleaning with her tongue.

Adam never knew Black liked kids.

She was a gentle giant. Content to sit and observe from the couch while Pidge and Matt tinkered, Lance sketched or Hunk surfed the web.

“Adam,” Her voice was soft and quivering from the other room. “Help.”

Pidge had decided that the couch cushions were not as soft as Black’s fur. Falling asleep with her head resting on Black’s side. Black was looking up at him with wide eyes, the yellow nearly invisible behind massive pupils.

“What am I supposed to do?” Black whispered softly. “Smallest Witch stopped working.”

“Shh,” He whispered back, “I’ll move her to their room.”

She let out a soft whimper. “No.”

Adam raised an eyebrow. “Less than a month and you’re that attached?”

“Tiniest cub has barely slept. We shouldn’t disturb her.”

“Then I guess you’re stuck like that until she wakes,” Adam ran a hand through Black’s fur slowly.

Black let out a soft purr.

“I’m barely twenty-three. And we already have four. The fates must have a lot of confidence in me.”

“Hunk is almost of age to summon a kit for himself.”

“And that means we’ll have to lead the ceremony. And you’ll have to teach the familiar.”

Dusty, Matt’s familiar, was also fast asleep in front of the door.

Familiars didn’t age. Not linearly like people did. Dusty would remain the size of a pup no matter how much time passed, it was all a matter of Matt’s progression with his magic.

Black had become a full-grown panther before Adam had Lance.

Black sighed, “Do you think it will be a kitten?” There was something wistful in her voice.

“Could be anything,” Adam continued petting Black slowly. “Since when do you want kittens?”

Black didn’t respond for a long time. “Lance wants his to be a cat. ‘Just like you’ he told me.”

Adam’s heart seized from the image that painted in his mind. Melody, Lance’s mother had a wolf familiar. Light grey fur that sometimes looked white.

Adam had thought Lance wanted a familiar just like hers.

But he wanted one like Black?

Black purred again as Adam scratched her behind her right ear. The one weak spot behind all those teeth and those very sharp claws.

(*******)

Hunk’s thirteenth birthday started far too early for Adam’s liking.

“Oof!” Adam awoke to the distinctive feeling of being pounced on by about ten pounds of excited lab pup.

“Guardian!” Dusty was panting from his place on top of Adam’s chest. “New friend time!”

It was barely seven. On a Saturday. “Not until sunset.”

“Adam,” The calm smooth voice of Black interrupted, “The cubs are all awake.”

Of course they are.

“Tell them I will be downstairs in a minute.”

“Come on pup,” Black without an ounce of hesitation picked up Dusty by the scruff of his neck and carried him out of the room.

“Don’t pretend you’re not excited for this! Black! Come on!” Dusty continued to complain until he was out of ear shot.

Adam could do this. It was just one of the most important days in Hunk’s life. He could handle this.

He had his first cup of morning coffee over the sound of his kids talking loudly over each other.

“Dare I ask what you four are up to?” Adam asked. Matt, Pidge and Lance all had drawings they were pointing at in front of them. Matt’s was a very rough drawing of a brownish creature that may have been a mole.

“They’re burrowers! You’ve been doing great with that Earth magic,” Matt was arguing.

Ah. This again.

Pidge’s was somehow even cruder and looked more like nightmare spaghetti than the spider Adam knew it was supposed to be.

“Spiders mean stability and sensitivity,” Pidge stated. “How is that not Hunk?”

Lance, for his part, had a drawing that actually looked very clearly like the animal he thought Hunk was about to have for his familiar. “It’s going to be a Pangolin!”

Adam was going to need more coffee.

The day passed very quickly. At least it felt quick to Adam.

“Alright you three. Rules while I’m gone: Do not touch the stove, microwave, or fireplace. Matt’s in charge. And you can stay up until we get back but be ready to go to bed as soon as we return.” Adam was about ninety percent sure they were all just going to watch TV while he and Hunk were gone.

The Grove wasn’t accessible by walking. It was in a pocket of spacetime maintained by magics that Adam couldn’t begin to fully explain or understand.

He hadn’t been here since he summoned Black when he was thirteen.

“Whatever happens, the shape of your familiar isn’t what’s important. They are a part of you,” Adam poked Hunk’s chest over his heart, “They’re already here. This is just to give them a form.”

Hunk placed his hand over the spot and took a deep breath. “Were your parents here? To help you do this?”

“No. They weren’t. It was Alfor who accompanied me here. Black was a bit of a surprise at first. But I knew she was exactly what she was meant to be the moment I heard her voice.”

Black purred while rubbing her head against Hunk’s knee. “There is no wrong form. Only the truth of your soul.”

(*******)

The three at home were about halfway through their second horror movie when the rest of their makeshift family made it home.

Lance was the first to bolt out the back door and into the garden at the sound of a portal opening.

“Welcome home!” he shouted with a big grin. “Where’s the new member of the Altean coven?”

Hunk was hold something close to his chest, Lance bounded over to see him sniffling with a smile on his face a bundle of bright yellow fur curled up in his hands.

A kitten.

A tiny little kitten who was all fur and asleep in Hunk’s hands.

“This is Yellow,” Hunk said with an awed whisper. “She’s perfect.”

Black was purring up a storm at their feet.

Yellow let out a yawn and slowly blinked open bright blue eyes. “Hunk? Are we home? Is it cake time?”

Lance and Adam both started laughing. Yep, this one was definitely Hunk’s.

(********)

Takashi Shirogane had many regrets. But going to that shack that day wasn’t one of them.

He had seen the reports on TV about ‘wild animal’ attacks. Right. Wild animals that tore out peoples throats and drank their blood dry.

He hadn’t seen another vampire in years. But if this one was killing people then someone had to step up.

The scent hadn’t been hard to pick up.

“Looks like someone’s midnight snack decided to fight back. Good on them,” Shiro commented as he followed the burning acid smell of injured vampire.

The desert wasn’t exactly ideal environment for a vampire. But if they were trying to hide this was certainly the way to do it. Miles from everything and everyone.

The shack didn’t look lived in. And the smell was getting stronger.

Shiro didn’t bother knocking on the door.

He wasn’t sure what he was expecting to find, but it wasn’t this.

Curled up in one corner was a kid. Shaking with hands covered in the crimson that was burning Shiro’s nose. He was curled up on himself and rocking. Across from him was a girl laying on her side.

Shiro checked. Breathing but no pulse.

She was turning.

Between them was a cooling corpse in a puddle of blood.

There was only one thing Shiro could do for either of them.

Guess he had a coven now.

Chapter Text

Lance was turning thirteen today. The big one three. He could do this. He was going to go to the Grove and summon his familiar. He could do this.

Please be a cat. Please be a cat. He wanted a kitten. Yellow was all fluff still and Lance was not at all jealous. His familiar was going to be even better.

Dusty was running circles around his feet. He was still a puppy, though he was a little bit bigger.

“New friend! Do you think they’ll play?”

Yellow was adorable and all, but Dust really needed a friend to play with.

And Lance was sure he was going to get it.

Hunk had told him in secret that he had felt Yellow’s energy all day before going to the Grove. Like feeling a limb that you did know you had.

Lance finally understood what he meant.

He could feel something in the air, running around his feet. He’d look down and there was nothing there. Dusty too busy demanding attention from Pidge or Matt. Or a ghost of something rubbing his cheek or hand.

Please be a cat. Please.

Sunset couldn’t get here fast enough.

(*******)

The Grove was nothing like Hunk had described it. Hunk had described it as a field that had led into a cave with glowing yellow lines like ore veins that led into a chamber.

Hunk had not mentioned the firey pit or the massive waterfall dumping into it.

“Careful Lance,” Adam called out from behind him.

“Woah!” He looked up at the endless looking torrent of water. The fire raged on from deep below.

“The Grove changes depending on who is inside it,” Black spoked from next to him. “We knew you had affinities for water and fire, but I can’t say we were expecting this.”

“So where is…?” Lance asked as he peer over the edge of the pit.

“Your familiar is inside you. In spirit. Adam, time to cast the spell.”

“What? I don’t get to explore?”

“You are not getting closer to fire pit Lance.” Black’s voice was firm and left no room for argument.

Lance tried to not pout as he went back to where Adam was standing.

“Alright Lance, give me your hands.”

Lance held his hands out and tried to keep his shaking to a minimum. It was really time.

Please be a cat.

Adam’s grip was firm as he said something Lance couldn’t hear. The inferno and waterfall were behind him and competing for which was louder.

Adam then released his hands and took several large steps back.

Lance knew what magic felt like. He had been practicing it for almost as long as he knew Adam. The rush of energy and the cathartic release of a spell leaving his hands was familiar.

This was something else entirely.

It was like a bolt of lightning struck him. Fast and hard and it took his breath away. Pulses of energy ripped through him. His legs collapsed beneath him and he fell forward catching himself with his arms. Crimson flames and deep blue swirls of glowing water were encircling him.

Lance’s body was leaving the ground as two bright lights one a deep ocean blue and one a firey red floated out of his chest.

There was a bright flash of light.

Lance awoke laying on his back. Still in the Grove with Black sitting watch over him and Adam sitting on his other side.

Where was his familiar?

“Lance!” A voice called out. A new voice. But one Lance knew in his very soul.

He sat up and looked around. Where?

He found himself staring into a pair of bright red eyes. They were hanging upside down from his head and were attached to a bright blue feline body.

It was a cat!

“Hey there girl,” Lance cooed as he gently plucked her from his head. Girl sounded right. The very thought of Blue being a boy didn’t make sense in his brain.

Blue? Was that her name?

“Hey! Hold me too!” Another voice Lance knew without ever hearing before demanded.

What?

A bundle of red fur, identical in size and shape to Blue waddled over to him from somewhere behind Black. She stared up at him with bright blue eyes and was forcing herself into the hand that wasn’t busy cradling Blue.

Red, something within him supplied.

“Uh…Adam?”

“Congrats,” Adam offered dryly. “You are the first Altean in three hundred years to get two familiars.”

Black’s tail swished behind her.

Lance held his girls close. Blue was nuzzling into chest while Red seemed content to just be held.

They were perfect and Lance loved them both very much.

(******)

Kittens. Kittens. Plural. Both were a little bigger than Yellow had been despite being leaner and looking less like living balls of fluff.

“Stop it! You’re squishing me!” Red complained despite not putting up any real fight against being cradled by Lance who had no plans on letting either of them go.

“You love us~” Blue cooed at her sister as she rubbed her head against Red’s neck.

“Stoooop!”

Black hadn’t stopped purring, opting to walk next to Lance with her eyes trained on both kittens.

Lance couldn’t wait to show them off the others.

“They’re back!” Dusty called as he darted out of the house his tail wagging wildly as he ran around Lance’s feet.

“Dusty!” Red was trying to wiggle out of Lance’s hold. “Let me down!”

Lance wasn’t sure that was a good idea.

“I can handle him!”

Lance looked as Black.

Black nodded. “I can keep an eye on both of them.”

Lance knelt down gently and lowered Red to the ground. He knew Dusty wouldn’t hurt Red intentionally, but when your playmate was nearly fifteen times your size accidents could happen.

Red looked so small as she stared up at him.

Dusty let out a bark and hopped around in place.

Then Red darted off, “Race you to the kitchen!”

Dusty bolted after her.

Black followed after both of them.

“She’s going to be a handful for the rest of our lives,” Blue deadpanned while shifting her position in Lance’s arms to take up as much space as possible.

Lance couldn’t find it in his heart to complain about that thought.

Blue started licking at her fur. “Come on, I want to meet Yellow.”

(*******)

“Are you sure about this Shiro?” Keith asked again. He stared out of the car window and at the crowd of students shuffling into the school. High school.

“It will be fine Keith,” Shay reached for him in the seat behind. Her hand rested on his shoulder.

“If I didn’t think both of you could handle this we wouldn’t be here. I have faith in both of you.”

But it was so many people.

“You don’t have to talk to all of them,” Shiro continued as if he could read Keith’s mind. “You don’t have to talk to any of them. Just focus on getting through today.”

“Should you be encouraging me to socialize?”

“I also want you comfortable here. Both of you. And we all know trying to force you to be mister popular isn’t going to work out. You’ll find your people at your pace.”

Shiro and Shay WERE Keith’s people.

“Can’t believe it’s been three years…” Shay whispered. “Where did the time go?”

Keith squeezed her hand. They could do this.

“Alright. Let’s go. Don’t want to be late on our first day.” Keith tried his best to sound enthusiastic, but something told him neither of them were convinced.

Chapter Text

Lance was about as happy with being separated from his girls as they were being separated from him. “We love you! Be awesome!” Blue cried from her spot on the bed while Lance grabbed his backpack.

Little drama queen.

“I love you both. Behave for Black, I’ll be home as soon as possible.”

Blue’s eyes were watery as she looked up at him with the most pitiful expression she could make. Three years of practice made her really good at it.

It also made Lance really good at seeing right through it.

Doesn’t mean she couldn’t have head scratches anyway though.

Red was pouting and not looking at him, curled up next to her sister and facing the closet.

Lance gave her head scratches with his other hand.

She tried and failed to fight the soft purr that escaped from her mouth.

“You’d better be home safe and on time. I will bite you if you don’t,” She grumbled.

They had gotten bigger since the summoning. Still on the small side but closer to the size of average domestic cats.

“And you telling us to behave? You got suspended last year for nearly setting the gym on fire,” Red continued complaining once Lance removed his hand.

“I was perfecting my fireworks. They’re so cool now!”

Blue rolled onto her back to stretch out and expose her belly. One last ploy for getting extra pets before Lance had to leave.

Red snorted loudly.

Lance scratched under both of their necks one last time.

But he really needed to go now.

(******)

Adam was not suffering from an early version of empty nesting syndrome. He wasn’t. He had a shop to run and a whole herd of animals to keep him company.

Black was in her glamour. They had learned after that one time some tried calling animal control to take what they thought was a wild animal obtained illegally.

Black wasn’t a fan of looking like a regular black house cat, but they both knew it was for the best.

“I’m not lonely. I’m going to see them as soon as school is over. And Matt’s coming by at two.”

“Pidge installed a dating app on your phone.”

“Which I am not using. I am not that desperate. I don’t need some man to feel complete. I am a high-functioning gay.”

“You have a match. Tall, semi-muscular, good with kids. Mostly black hair with a bit of grey in it.”

Adam swears Black got more use out of that phone than he did.

She nudged the phone towards him, he took a quick look at the image. Not bad. 7/10.

Maybe if he wasn’t…

Nope. Not entertaining that thought.

“Not interested,” Adam said out loud as he dismissed the notification.

“In dating or in him?” There was something in her voice that Adam didn’t fully trust. There was no way she didn’t know the answer to that already.

Both. Adam had only wanted to date one man and that was no longer an option.

Her eyes were narrowed on his neck. Twelve years and the scars never faded.

He rubbed the spot absentmindedly. The memory of the physical pain long gone, but the emotions were still as fresh as when it happened.

No.

Adam was not going to let himself get lost in the past.

Takashi made his choice.

(*******)

Lance was going to stab Keith in his stupid mullet wearing face someday.

“If you glare any harder, he might catch on fire,” Pidge muttered next to him.

“And that would a glorious day,” Lance mumbled.

“Really glad we can’t bring our familiars to school. We’ve had enough accidents…” Hunk mumbled.

Lance didn’t like being away from his girls for so long. The eight hours of a school day pushed the limits of the familiar bonds near to their limits. He could still feel Red and Blue but it was like they were on the other end of a tight cord that pulled him home.

Plus, without them nearby he could barely cast spells.

Which was great for people like Keith Kogane who Lance wanted to curse really badly right about now.

“It was one question Lance.”

“It’s never just the one question Pidge, it’s everything with him.”

“When will you just admit you’re jealous?”

Lance scoffed, “Me? Jealous? Of Mullet for brains? As if!”

Pidge nodded sagely, “You’re right. I was mistaken. I meant to say; you have a huge crush on him.”

“I do not have a crush on Keith Kogane!” Lance shouted while slamming his hands on the table with enough force to stand him up and throw his chair backwards.

Hunk flinched from the sound. Why had Matt abandoned him to deal with their younger siblings by himself?

Right. College. Mathematics degree.

Just a few more months and then Hunk was free.

“Guys people are staring,” Hunk whispered to them both.

Lance was glaring at Pidge while she stood there with a neutral expression.

What was worse was the stares also included Keith Kogane and his sister, Shay Shirogane.

They were sitting on the other side of the cafeteria, far away from the West siblings. All parties had learned early on that letting Keith and Lance with fifty feet of each other ensured a shouting match.

Lance huffed, “You wouldn’t understand…”

Pidge rolled her eyes, “I understand that both of you are being ridiculous.”

Lance sat back down, “He started it!”

Hunk wasn’t entirely sure that was correct. But then he had only heard about the disastrous first meeting of Keith and Lance after the fact from Pidge.

Chapter Text

Takashi Shirogane was starting to regret getting Keith a bike instead of a car. But then again, the idea of giving Keith a bigger vehicle to be in charge of might cause even more problems.

He was really glad both of his younger siblings were practically indestructible. Vampires couldn’t get road rash thankfully.

Shiro let out a sigh and crossed his arms, Keith was quiet and almost sheepish.

Shay was sitting on the sofa with her legs neatly tucked under her while she did homework.

“Walk me through what happened Keith.”

(*******)

Keith failed to see the blue car. He would take some blame for that.

But the blue car should not have been driving that fast in the school parking lot. Or maybe the driver should have been looking at where he was going.

“Hey! Watch where you’re driving that bucket of bolts!” Keith yelled as he parked.

“Easy Keith,” Shay patted his shoulder.

Keith repressed a full growl. His body rumbled as he glared at the lanky boy coming out of the driver’s seat.

“Excuse you! You should be more careful Mullet!”

Shay’s hand tightened.

The contact was grounding. Shay wasn’t physically stopping him, but reminding him softly that fighting the boy was a bad idea.

Just because Keith could snap him in half like a toothpick didn’t mean Keith should.

One of the passengers, a larger fellow making a peaceful gesture stepped in front of the more aggressive one. “How about we both promise to be more careful in the future and continue on our merry ways?” He pleaded.

Keith was more than happy to let Shay do the talking.

“That sounds perfect,” Shay said with a soft smile. “We’ll see you around. I’m Shay, this is my twin brother Keith.”

They weren’t twins, but it was the story the three of them had chosen.

The large fellow nudged his friend who was still intensely glaring at Keith with very blue eyes.

“I’m Hunk, this is my brother Lance and our sister Katie.”

Katie stepped out of the car and grabbed Lance by the back of his collar and pulled him towards the school gates.

He and Keith glared at each other until Lance was entirely out of sight.

(*******)

“But no one got hurt?” Shiro pressed him.

Keith sighed, “We’re fine. There are some new skid marks in the parking lot but that’s it.” Think about the lanky driver made his teeth itch and elongate.

“If everyone’s okay, I’m not gonna bother you about it anymore.”

Keith huffed, “That wasn’t even the worst part about today!”

Now it was Shay’s turn to sigh and cover her face. “It wasn’t that bad,” she started saying.

“Something else happened?” Shiro looked almost mournfully at his empty coffee mug.

“Idiot cut himself in science,” Keith admitted. Which was stupid. He had better control over his bloodlust than that.

“Nothing happened though,” Shay interjected.

“My fangs came out. I snapped at him. He snapped back.”

“But he didn’t see anything?”

“He didn’t comment on it. Called me something in Spanish.”

Shiro put his mug on the table and grabbed Keith by the chin to get a better look at his teeth. Keith’s fangs weren’t fully out but they were clearly not human.

“You’re better than this,” Shiro said as he let go. “I know you’re both still young, but this shouldn’t be happening. You’ve been around open wounds before without a reaction.”

Then what made that…Lance so different? Why wouldn’t he leave Keith’s thoughts?

“Probably best to just avoid this kid for now. If anything happens-”

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to let some obnoxious idiot ruin everything.”

Not quite what Shiro was hoping for, but it would do. As long as no one got hurt everything would be fine.

(*******)

It had been six months into the school year and whatever was going on with Lance was still driving Keith crazy. It wasn’t even his smell or his blood. It was the look in his eyes, the sound of his voice, the way he carried himself when talking to his siblings.

“Is what he said during lunch still bothering you?” Shay asked low on their way out of the cafeteria.

He wanted to pretend he didn’t know who she was talking about.
“No, he says a lot of things. None of it’s my problem.”

She was giving him that look again. Like she was seeing right through him. He hated that she could just do that with a look.

Who cares if Lance didn’t like him? They weren’t friends or anything. They’d barely spoken outside of yelling at each other. So what? It didn’t matter.

Shay was looking at him with eyes full of pity now. His fangs retreated.

“It’s fine,” he said. He knew he sounded less sure of it. But whatever. Not like him and Lance could be anything anyway. The whole vampire thing would be a massive problem.

“You’ll find someone,” Shay tried to reassure him.

He didn’t want someone. He wanted ash and saltwater and loud laughter.

His teeth dug into his bottom lip, piercing the skin but nothing that wouldn’t heal.

Lance West was simply too human for him. There was nothing that could change that.

(*******)

“See Red? I told you we should start sneaking into his backpack. We miss all the drama at home!”

Black didn’t even raise her head off her paws. “No.”

Red wasn’t listening anyway. She was sneaking up on Black’s absently swishing tail.

Lance picked up Blue and held her close to his chest, “Pidge was just being ridiculous again.”

“Excuse you?” Pidge called from the dining table. Green was silent, too busy holding a screwdriver in her mouth.

“No fighting children,” Black said, but it sounded fond.

“If you’ve got a crush, we should meet them,” Blue said while wiggling in his arms to turn and face him.

“Well then it’s a good thing I don’t have a crush. Who would? He’s rude, his hair sucks, his style’s worse, he keeps getting better test scores than me-”

“And now you’ve gotten him started again,” Pidge mumbled.

Black just laid there and listened. Patient as ever. Even with Red pouncing on her tail.

Lance set Blue down in his lap, she curled up and settled in for him to pet her. Purring while he tried to think of anything but Keith.

After a moment of silence Pidge spoke up, “Has Adam bothered using the app I installed?”

“He gets hits but isn’t interested. Not surprising. He’s more than capable of getting dates he just chooses not to.”

It sounded a bit like an excuse, but Lance couldn’t help but wonder if there was something more to it. He couldn’t remember Adam going on dates while they’d been living together.

“He’s got to have a type,” Pidge continued.

“Oh he does. For better and worse,” Black commented. “It’s probably best to leave it be for now. When Adam decides he’s ready to date again, he will.”

Lance’s hand was being attacked. Less aggression and more the pushiness of a second cat.

Blue let out a noise of complaint while Red just moved her over so they’d both have room.

Lance couldn’t see Keith being nice to his girls. Or anything else really. He seemed like the type that would ignore them completely. So even if he did have some stupid crush, which he didn’t, it would never work out.

Magic powers or not.

Chapter Text

Lance’s girls were running around his feet as he pulled the large cooler out of the van Adam drove. Him and Matt were struggling with getting the tents out when Adam’s phone rang. Hunk had a portable grill under one arm and a bucket of firewood in the other hand. Pidge had a small pack on her back.

“You three go get the fire started and set up, this will be just a moment,” Adam said before answering the call and taking a few steps away from the van.

“See you guys in a bit!” Pidge called, already running ahead of them. Green was trailing behind.

All the familiars except Dusty were in glamours. The small cats were themselves in more common colors, Black was in her housecat disguise. She didn’t say anything, but Lance could tell by the bit of hair standing up that something was bothering her.

If it was important, Adam would tell them.

He shrugged it off and followed Pidge and Hunk.

The campsite was secluded. Intentionally so. That way they could practice magic somewhere with less risk of property damage.

It even had a small river nearby for Lance to test his ice powers on. And in case Red’s fooling around got a little too out of hand.

Hunk set up the grill, putting in charcoal but not lighting it yet. Pidge had settled herself on a rock, flowers started growing in the places Green bounded around in the grass as her and Blue played.

Red was holding in her excitement near the firepit. Yellow near her and far more calm.

Lance cracked his knuckles and grinned, “Alright Red, let’s do this.” He pointed his hand like it was a gun and focused on his bond with Red.

Instead of flames, a shower of sparks like he was a human firework. They weren’t even enough to light the wood on fire.

Blue was laughing, not at him, at Red.

“We’re working on it!” Red defended herself.

Lance wasn’t sure why his water and ice powers worked without issue but fire always seemed to not quite listen. It wasn’t Red, his girls were different but the bonds were just as strong. Was it him?

It didn’t matter. They’d keep at it.

Red lowered herself like she was going to pounce and fight the wood, but opened her mouth to let out a burst of flame about the size of a golf ball.

Unlike his attempt, it worked this time.

Red was part of him. The power was clearly there. The bond was there. And yet…

Red pawed at his foot. Demanding to be carried for her hard work. He was always happy to oblige.

“It’s not just you Lance,” Pidge commented from her rock. “Green’s way better at plants than me.”

“That’s because you don’t go outside and spend all day on your screen,” Hunk commented while kneeling to reach into the cooler to grab a bottle of water.

Green was scampering up the rock while leaving moss and lichen in her wake. Then she placed her head on Pidge’s leg.

Lance shifted Red into one arm and grabbed a can of soda for himself. Between two needy girls he was well practiced in doing things with one hand or arm busy.

“Hunk toss me a-” Pidge was cut off by a whooshing sound that wasn’t anything like Matt’s wind powers.

Lance couldn’t process what he was seeing at first. Pidge was shaking and looking down at what had made the sound. Thin and black with a sharp point tipped in red. A bolt was sticking out of her adomen.

“Katie!” Hunk screamed while another bolt whizzed by.

Green was screaming.

“Lance!” Red’s voice snapped him out it.

Finally his legs began to move. Kaite was falling. Hunk caught her, being careful not to touch the bolt.

Carrying her would slow him down.

“Go!” Lance shouted as swiped his hand to summon a wall of ice to block more bolts. The point stuck out of the ice. He placed his hands on the wall to grow it and make it stronger to hold off the attacks.

“What? And leave you here?” Hunk demanded.

“You have to get her to Adam and Matt. There’s no time to argue.”

Hunk grit his teeth and looked between his injured sister and clearly prepping for a fight brother.

Katie was still conscious but weakening. “No dying on us jerk face.”

Hunk lifted her swiftly and started running. Yellow and Green following close, they didn’t always look it but they could run faster than the witches.

Lance heaved and let Red down, he was going to need both hands for this.

“Lance, we’re surrounded,” Blue’s voice was scared.

That had to be a good thing. The more he dealt with the less Hunk had to worry about.

“They aren’t getting away with this,” Red vowed.

Lance’s fists clenched, on his other side a wall of flame burst out of the ground. Images of Katie and the night he lost his first family blended together.

Not this time.

(*******)

Adam could feel something was wrong before he heard anything. Black might have smelled or heard it first. The yelling. The rustling of branches and forest floor.

Then he saw something that made his heart stop and Matt freeze for only a moment.

Black moved first, her disguise breaking instantly and being back in her full panther form as Hunk stumbled to a stop.

“Katie, can you hear me?” Black was saying as Matt arrived behind her. Dusty was sniffing at a red spot on Green.

Adam couldn’t move. Could barely breathe. Matt was already using his healing on his sister.

“Where’s Lance?” Adam asked. Still hoping the lanky boy was going to come up behind them. But there were no spots of red or blue.

“He stayed behind to buy us time,” Hunk explained.

Matt was focusing on Katie, shaking and breathing heavily with the effort.

Adam knew what he had to do. He grabbed his keys out of his pocket and threw them toward the huddle around Katie. “Take the van, get home lock the door and call Alfor. If it’s not him or me do not answer it.”

Hunk nodded numbly as Yellow handed him the keys.

Adam could hear them behind him. His heart too loud in his ears as Black ran faster in front of him. He couldn’t get the image of six-year-old Lance out of his head.

Hunters. Here. Allura had told him there’d been sightings a state over but they were supposed to be safe. He was supposed to protect them. He was their Guardian, damn it.

Black’s roar was the perfect match to how he felt.

The campsite was in ruins. Shards of ice stuck out at all angles, multiple mini-fires were starting to die. Bolts littered the ground.

“Blood,” Black confirmed.

But no Lance, Blue, or Red.

There was a hunter pinned to the ground. A shard of ice stuck out of his leg. Still breathing.

Adam pulled it out without a single care for the hunter’s pain. He grabbed him by the collar of his shirt under that armor and lifted him up into the air.

His magic swirled around in black tendrils, wrapping around his prey’s neck.

“Where. Is. He.” It wasn’t a question. It was a demand.

“Go to hell,” the hunter spat.

“I’ll see you in hell,” Adam promised as he made the hunter vanish, leaving only his clothes and gear to fall in front of him. Adam wasted no time looking for any kind of device.

A radio. More than enough for them to work with.

Black growled as their magic swirled to bring them home. The hunters would pay for this.

Chapter Text

Shay liked to read while Keith worked on his bike. The smell wasn’t that bad with the garage door was open. Of course that meant Keith had to move as regular human speed. She couldn’t tell what exactly he was doing, only that it was leaving his hands a mess no cleaning rag could fix. A box of tools sat open next to him as he inspected some piece of the engine.

There was a noise. A squeal of tires. Many tires.

They didn’t live in a crowded part of town. They barely lived within the borders at all. They didn’t have neighbors. Certainly no one who would need that many vehicles. Shiro wasn’t home but he didn’t bring company without letting them know.

Keith heard it too. Freezing in place before slowly putting a messy wrench back in the box. “Shay, get inside. Call Shiro.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll stall them. Maybe they’ll leave before Shiro gets here.”

He didn’t believe that for an instant. Shay knew when he was lying. But someone had to contact Shiro and Keith was the better fighter between them.

“Don’t do anything reckless,” she told him as she rushed inside, not caring about hiding their speed at this point.

She could still hear everything despite the closed door.

“What do you want?” Keith demanded.

A clattering of a bike falling over. A black bolt pierced through the door and whirled by her head.

Shiro answered his phone quickly. “Hey, I’m going to be home in a couple of hours.”

“There’s people here.” Shay whispered panicked into the phone. “Lots of them. They’re firing at us.”

There was a growl on the other side, then a click.

She held the phone to her chest. More bolts cam through the walls in a chaotic pattern. She ducked under them and tired to figure out what to do.

She’d never wanted to hurt anyone. But Keith was in danger. She couldn’t do nothing. But what?

(*******)

Keith was counting footsteps. It was either a small army or a giant centipede with boots. He wished it was the latter, frankly.

“What do you want?” Keith demanded. Who cared about politeness when they were clearly not here to be friends.

Then he was being fired at. Black bolts whizzed by but nothing he couldn’t dodge.

Taking out the first few guys was easy, chest armor and helmets couldn’t do much against a vampire’s strength. He wasn’t going for lethal, just enough to make them leave.

Shiro would disappointed if he killed now.

But there too many. Where had they all come from?

The closest to pain Keith had experienced since his turning was when Shiro lightly tossed him around for their training. His did more to his pride than his body.

The first bolt, which landed in the middle of his spine, was nothing like that. It was like every nerve in his body lit up at once. Like he’d grabbed a livewire and shoved it into his nervous system.

The second one wasn’t as bad.

The third was the worst. Near missing his heart and finally dropping him to the ground. But it was okay. He was being grabbed and carried, but they weren’t going in the house.

Shay and Shiro would be okay.

(*******)

Hunk was fighting the urge to puke as he fumbled with the keys to the house. Adam’s instructions the only clear thought in his head.

The door locked and the house was silent. Matt was kneeling on the floor, magic the same sand color as Dusty’s fur poured out of where his shaking hands held onto to his sister’s.

She was still breathing, but her eyes were closed.

“What ca we do?” Yellow was asking for him.

“Gauze in the bathroom, we need to get her ready to pull this thing out. I can’t…it’s in the way,” Matt’s voice was shaking.

He couldn’t let go now. He might be the only thing keeping her breathing. Green and stumbling. Barely able to move on her own now. Dusty was nudging her to a pillow under some protest.

Familiars were a part of them. A reflection. Katie must have been in even worse shape than she looked.

They kept a good stock of medical supplies, between the occasional accident and magic powers going a bit awry it was best to just have stuff.

The color of Katie’s face was fading.

“Dust-”

“Taking over,” the lab confirmed as Hunk settled on the floor on Katie’s other side across from Matt. Dusty put a paw on Katie’s shoulder. The same glow left from him.

Matt grabbed the gauze and was taking heaving breaths. “When I count to three, you need to remove it. Are you ready?”

Not even a little. Hunk nodded anyway.

“One.” Hunk placed his own shaking hands on the bolt. “Two.” He tightened grip as best he could. “Three.”

The sound it made was horrible. The near instant spreading of red was worse. But Matt was fast, gauze and glowing hands over the wound as Katie made a weak noise of pain.

“Shh, it’s going to be okay. We’ve got you. Just breathe,” Dusty was mumbling to her.

“Keep pressure on this while I wrap it,” Matt told him.

Hunk was glad at least someone here knew what to do. He couldn’t stop thinking about the look on Lance’s face when he told him to get out of there.

But it was clear now, if he’s stayed…

Katie’s breathing was steadying. Matt took her wrist in his hand and for the first time cracked a slight smile. “It’s working,” he said weakly.

“I am going to make her eat so many vegetables after this,” Hunk tried to joke as it felt like he could breathe too.

“So much broccoli,” Matt chuckled. He looked like he was about to cry and faint at the same time.

Hunk had tried a few healing spells. He knew how much energy it took. So much more than everything else. Matt had to have nearly drained himself dry for this.

“Adam will be back soon with Lance,” Hunk needed to say it to keep himself calm. “Is she…should we move her?”

“Yeah. She’ll be out for a while, but she’ll be okay.” There was a sniffle around the word okay.

Hunk scooped her up carefully, Matt was clearly too tired to move himself and it was at least something he could do to help right now.

She looked almost peaceful now. No obvious signs of pain. Like all she’d done was pass out while they watched something.

Yellow had grabbed Green. The yellow bundle of fluff she’d once been hadn’t changed much. Still more fur than anything else, but Green had barely grown over the years.

Green curled instinctively next to Katie’s head.

Matt was struggling to stay awake on the couch while Dusty was pacing around the floor of the living room.

“Get some sleep dude,” Hunk told him.

“I should. Worried about what I’m gonna see when I close my eyes.”

Hunk already knew what he was going to have nightmares about for a while.

“The last time I saw my parents, I promised I’d look after her,” Matt admitted.

Dusty whined then placed his head on the pillow where Green had been.

Hunk had to tell him something. “You have. She’s going to be okay thanks to you.”

“What were Hunters even doing there?” Now that the crisis was solved, there was anger bleeding in.

A great question, but one that would have to wait.

Yellow’s ears perked up, “Black!” Followed by a pounding knock on the door, flashes of black matched the rhythm.

Hunk opened the door in a rush.

Matt sat up in a rush as Adam stormed past them both.

“How’s Katie?” Adam asked as he turned down the hall toward the garage.

Black pushed the door close.

No Lance. Hunk’s heart was about to start beating out of his chest.

“Stable,” Hunk responded and followed after Adam who was rummaging through Matt’s old workstation. An unfamiliar radio in his hand.

Hunk didn’t want to ask. Was terrified of the answer. Yellow leaped into his arms.

“Where’s-” Dusty started to ask.

“They took him,” Adam interrupted. “But I’m going to find them and bring him home.”

Took him? Since when did Hunters take people? And why Lance?

“Let me help,” Matt cut in, forcing his way into the garage. He still looked exhausted.

Adam looked up from what he was doing to the two of them. “You look half dead.”

“That one of theirs?” Matt ignored the obvious. “Get me a Redbull and I can get you a location.”

Hunk knew that arguing with either of them would be useless. With a sigh he left for the fridge. When he got back Matt was already hooking the radio to some device with an old monitor. He placed the cans on the desk.

Adam was gripping the desk tight enough Hunk was starting to worry something was going to snap.

Matt chugged the Redbull all at once. Which was probably not good for him. He was going to crash hard later. But his hands stopped shaking as he typed away. On the monitor a map was zooming out and moving.

Hunk knew a bit about tracking signals, but this was outside his wheelhouse.

“The main receiver for it is on the move. Probably in whatever vehicle they’re using. But it’s connected to something else. Hopefully some kind of main hub. If we’re lucky, that’s where they took Lance,” Matt commented.

“And if we’re not?” Yellow asked quietly.

“We start breaking fingers until they talk or steal every computer we find there. One of them’s got to have something useful,” Matt responded without missing a beat.

“You’re staying here,” Adam interjected.

“What?” Dusty demanded.

“Matt’s in no condition for a fight and I can’t leave him and Katie by themselves,” Adam explained.

The monitor beeped narrowed in on one location. “Found it,” Matt commented, he already looked defeated. “Just…come back safe. Both of you?”

“Of course. You all stay put.”

Hunk suddenly wanted to puke again.

Adam put a hand on each of their shoulders, “Listen, you’ve done amazing, both of you. Now please wait here and don’t do anything stupid.”

Matt grumbled.

“Promise,” Hunk said with a heavy swallow.

Chapter Text

Red knew something was very wrong the moment she woke up. First, Blue wasn’t confusing her for their pillow. Second, Lance wasn’t snoring nearby. Third, there was a painful chill in her entire body.

Lance was hurt.

She was in a cage. Black bars and purple glowing bits were all she could see. No sign of Blue or their witch. Her first idea was to bite the bars of the cage.

They zapped her mouth on contact.

She hissed at them.

“No…Black five more minutes…” someone mumbled from somewhere below her.

“Blue!” she called out. “Blue wake up this is not the time for beauty sleep!”

There was a yawn. “Fine I’m up I’m…where…?” Blue gasped. Red could feel the slight spike of fear in their bond.

At least she was taking this seriously now. “Can you feel Lance?” Red asked. It was a long shot, but worth trying.

“He’s too far,” Blue explained what she’d already guessed. “But somethings wrong. He’s not dead and it doesn’t feel like he’s dying but…”

“We have to get out of here and find him,” Red finished. “You see anything that can help?”

“No touching the bars,” Blue commented. “I don’t like the smell of that purple stuff.”

Red started pacing around her cage. “There’s gotta be something.”

“Up there! You see that?”

“See what?”

“On the ceiling!”

Red tried to get a good look, there was some kind of box up there. All the purple glowing seemed to flow in and out of it.

“Can you hit it from where you are?” Blue asked.

Red gave it her best, the fire even made contact, but it didn’t do anything.

“Hmm. Alright, I’ve got this.” A pencil sized shard of ice flew up from below, piercing and stabbing the power box in the center.

The entire room blacked out. Red lit up her paws to help them see. The bars were gone too. She hopped down as Blue walked out of her cage. There were other cages in the room but they were all empty.

“Okay. Now what’s the plan?” Blue asked.

“Uh…find Lance?”

“That’s a goal, not a plan. What happens if we get caught?”

“We’ve got claws, we’ll figure it out.” Red shrugged and wandered towards the door.

Blue sighed but followed after her.

(*******)

When Keith woke up, his fangs were out and throbbing and his body ached like someone had run him over. The bolts were still in him. They didn’t hurt anymore, but he also couldn’t move.

His vision was a blur of purples.

“That was so reckless, we almost got caught!”

“But we didn’t.”

“And you still don’t know where you’re going.”

“He’s somewhere, if we keep looking we’ll find him.”

“Everything looks the same in this place, we could be going in circles for all you know.”

The voices were soft and light. But something about them felt so familiar. They both reminded him of someone.

“Look we haven’t been here before, that’s new. It probably means we’re getting closer.” There was a red cat talking in front of the cell he was laying in.

Keith wasn’t sure what was in those bolts, but hallucinations were new.

A blue one was following, the second voice. “Wait, I have a better idea than wandering aimlessly.”

The red one scoffed.

“Think we could free him?”

“Why? Look at him, he can’t help us.”

“Nah. You smell that? He’s not a normal human.”

“Hey,” Keith tried calling out to them. He doubted it would help but he was out of options right now. “I can hear you.”

“See? If he’s able to talk in that condition he’s bound to be a tough piece of jerky.”

“Get these things out of me and I’ll help you,” he offered. He couldn’t heal the wounds as long as they were in him.

“Ugh, fine.”

The cats walked right through the gaps in the bars. The blue one stretched before going over to the one in his arm and pulling with her teeth.

It came out with a squishing noise, but he could already feel his arm healing, his fingers started to obey him again.

“Healing that fast? You are something else dude,” the red one circled behind him.

“Ooh, Red he’s kinda cute. Stupid hair aside.” The blue one’s voice was starting to remind him a lot of a certain someone.

The bolt in his spine was gone, meaning he could start to move more.

“You gonna sit there and watch or are you going to help me?” Red demanded. He could feel the pressure of paws higher on his back.

“I’m getting the door open.” The blue one moved into a crouching position, then opened her mouth to unleash an ice shard bigger than her body. It pierced through the wall causing sparks to fly but the cell door swung open just a bit.

The pain of the bolt near his heart getting ripped out was almost as bad as when it went in. It only lasted a moment. “Get off of me.”

“You’re welcome,” Red sauntered to where the other one was.

Keith’s strength returned as he got to his feet. “Any idea where we are?”

“Hunters compound of some kind. Not sure how many prisoners they have but you’re the first one we’ve seen. Now you going to keep your end of the bargain or not?” Red huffed.

“What are you looking for, exactly?”

“Our witch! He’s taller than you, dark tan skin?”

Witch? So these were familiars. Shiro had told him bits about them, but he’d never met one before. It would explain the talking and the powers.

They did help him, “Sure, why not? I’ll make a pit stop before breaking out.”

“See? This was the best idea. I’m Blue by the way, that’s Red.”

Keith wasn’t really listening to them anymore, he was listening for feet and heartbeats. Shouldn’t there be guards?

“You two see anything weird on the way here?” Keith asked as he pushed the door open.

“Weirder than whatever you are? No.” Red responded.

He didn’t like how quiet it was. Something was up. That or his senses were still muted from those damn bolts.

He focused his hearing. Trying to find anything. There, a pulse. A weak one, but it was better than nothing.

He followed it. Because anything was better than hearing these two argue with each other.

“He smells weird,” Red insisted at his feet. “What if we just freed something best left alone?”

“Meh, it’ll be fine. Worst case he takes it out on the Hunters who did this to him. The less of those we need to worry about the better,” Blue whispered back.

He was sure he wasn’t supposed to hear it, but not much got past his hearing. He turned a corner. That heartbeat was getting louder. Not stronger, but closer.

The cats bounded ahead of him. He was starting to hear footsteps. Not rushing though. Maybe they didn’t know he was out and about. A regular patrol then?

There was a gasp of terror from Blue. “What did they do to you?”

Red was growling.

Keith faced the cell they were staring at. And his heart almost restarted from the shock. “Lance?” he called out softly. He couldn’t make sense of this. Of what he was seeing.

His face was paler than usual. Breathing heavily with his whole body slumped over and bound. He didn’t look conscious. No bolts were in him, but there was a massive stain of red on his upper thigh.

Keith could smell it. That was definitely the smell of his blood. His fangs grew further and the usual cravings came back in full force.

“Lance! Lance can you hear us?” Blue was crying. She snuck through the bars and starting nudging his face. Trying to get a response out of him.

Red was already tugging on the rope. More red lingered on his wrists.

“Get the door open,” Keith managed to say around the teeth still changing shape in his mouth.

Blue nodded and prepared another ice attack.

Lance was here. These familiars were his. That meant…

“He’s not going to be able to walk like this,” Red mumbled as she clawed at the binds on his ankles.

Keith was going to have to carry him. He’d barely even touched Lance before. Once, they’d bumped into each other. It’d made Kieth senses feel like he’d been scalded. Then they started arguing about whose fault it was.

He could do this.

Maybe it would be like…exposure therapy. He couldn’t even take a deep breath to steady himself. The air was saturated in it. Maybe after this everything else would be easy.

Blue was inspecting Lance’s face. There was blood there too. “Bleeding, but not broken. That’s good. He would be upset if they ruined his face.”

“He would still be handsome with a scar,” Red responded.

Keith opened the now unlocked door with too much force. He’d been to focused on Lance to notice when Blue had taken care of it. The cats weren’t an obstacle, not to him.

Lance barely weighed anything. The hardest part was not jostling his injuries. Keith rested his head on his shoulder, he almost looked peacefully asleep. Except for the hint of pain in his face.

The cats circled his feet.

He’d barely processed what their reactions had meant. If Lance was theirs…

“You’d better be careful with our prince,” Blue was telling him, like he would willingly let something happen to Lance now.

“I don’t like the way he’s looking,” Red mumbled low as they left the cell.

“Lance will be fine, if he was in serious condition we’d know.”

“I’m talking about the piece of jerky. Did you see his face?”

“What’s wrong with it? I think he’s cute. Lance will sad he missed being carried by a big strong hero.”

“Blue, focus. That guy is clearly not human and we’re just handing him Lance?”

“We can’t exactly carry him ourselves. If he tries anything you set his mullet on fire, you’d be doing him a favor anyway.”

Now that he knew, he understood why this cat was getting on his nerves. Of course she was Lance’s. And the way Red was glaring at him should have made it obvious. He was tempted to ask if they knew who he was. If his fangs weren’t in the way.