Chapter Text
So, Keith has his mate back. His dads are all in one place and safe. He has a new(ish) aunt who is awesome. He knows where every single member of his pack is. One would think the worst was behind him.
With his luck? Yeah right.
They’re stranded in the middle of nowhere with no ship and the lions unable to charge. They can’t get in contact with anyone from the coalition. And, to top it all off, Shiro seems to be dying.
Again.
Keith growls and glares at his mate, encased in the healing pod before him. “I swear to god, Takashi, you need to stop doing this shit.” He mutters.
“Language, kit.” Ulaz says absently, scanning the pod’s readout. “Allura, you’re more familiar with the pod’s controls, can you help me find the sedative?”
Allura peers over the doctor’s shoulder and points to a button. “That one.”
“Thank you, princess.”
Keith huffs and leans back against the crate behind him. His dad and Allura had explained that Shiro’s soul and new body were fighting each other, and integration will be slow going, and there was a small chance it would fail completely. Well, Keith isn’t having that.
But they’ve got time to wait it out, at least, seeing as they’ve been stuck on this planetoid for two quintants now.
“Coran, any luck figuring out how to recharge the lions?”
Keith looks up when Pidge speaks. The other Paladins – and most of his parents – are all here, wanting to keep updated on Shiro’s status.
“Well, we are in the Dalterian Belt…”
“Ah.” Ulaz looks up at the older Altean and nods. “Faunatonium.”
Coran grins. “Precisely! We could use it as a temporary solution.”
“Isn’t that stuff hard to track?” Kolivan asks, still scowling at his data pad. He’s been trying to get in touch with the Blade this whole time. No luck so far.
“Only if you don’t have a yelmor! And yelmors are found all over this system, including the Dalterian belt. We saw greenery not far away when we landed, I’ll bet we can find some there.”
“Yelmors?” Hunk asks. “We need yelmors to find this stuff?”
“Oh yes!”
Keith nods. “Okay, Coran, take the other paladins and go find some faunatonium. Dad, Allura and I will stay here with Shiro.”
“Take Thace with you.” Ulaz says absently, scanning Shiro again.
From over in the corner and far removed from the conversation, Thace sputters. “What? Why?”
“Because your pacing is driving me insane, you’re getting restless and this may be the last chance you have for a while to really stretch your legs?”
Thace opens his mouth to protest, then closes it again. “Alright, fair enough. Let’s go, pipsqueaks!”
Thace leans down to pat Krolia on the shoulder. “Hold down the fort, sis.”
Krolia raises an eyebrow. “Something is very wrong if you think I’m the most responsible one here.”
“Well, ‘Laz and Allura are busy with Shiro, Keith is too, Kolivan has his nose glued to his data pad and Antok is going through the other lions taking inventory.”
Krolia shrugs. “I see your point.”
“Can I go too?” Romelle pipes up, straightening from where she’d been curled into Keith’s side.
“Of course! The more the merrier!” Coran says cheerfully. And with that, the Yelmor Expedition departs.
The next few vargas are spent watching Shiro’s vitals slowly drop, despite Ulaz and Allura’s best efforts.
“I’m afraid we’re going to lose him.” Allura whispers.
Keith gazes at her for a moment, then stands and walks over to the pod, placing his hand on it and leaning down.
“Shiro, if you can hear me, you had better fight. You had better live. You can’t do this to me again, Takashi. I won’t let you. If you die again, you are going to have one very pissed off mate on your hands. So wake up.”
The words are said calmly, softly, but with conviction. Shiro doesn’t get to do this to him again. Keith won’t allow it.
Ulaz huffs. “I think he heard you, kit.”
“Vitals are climbing.” Allura confirms, laughing a little. “I guess all it took was a threat of bodily harm.”
Keith leans back just as the pod hisses open. “Shiro?”
Shiro groans and opens his eyes. “Keith. I was dreaming… and then I heard your voice. Keith, you saved me.”
Keith laughs and leans down to hug his danger-prone mate. “We save each other. It’s what we do.”
Shiro huffs. “True enough.”
Keith steps back and lets Shiro sit up. He sways a little but Ulaz reaches out to steady him. “Take it slow, Shiro, you’re still going to be weak for a while.”
Shiro turns to him. “Ulaz. I,” He looks back up at Keith, eyes wide. “I tried to kill you.”
Keith raises an eyebrow. “It wasn’t technically you. But I guess that means you have the clone’s memories?”
Shiro nods slowly. “It’s, all kind of a jumble right now, but yes.”
“Praise the gods, he’s awake.” Kolivan mutters, coming down from Black’s cockpit. “How are you, Shiro?”
“Better. Much better.”
Kolivan nods. “Good. Please don’t go anywhere else. I don’t think we can handle another incident like this. Keith was… distraught, when you vanished.”
Shiro winces. “I’m sure.” He looks around, frowning. “Where is everyone?”
“They should be back soon. I tried to contact Thace, but he didn’t respond.” Krolia says, coming up behind Keith.
Shiro looks up at her. “You’re Krolia, right? Keith’s aunt?”
Krolia nods. “Yes. It’s good to finally meet you properly, Shiro. Keith has told me a lot about you.”
The door hisses open again and Antok strides in.
“I’ve taken a full inventory, princess.” He says, handing a data pad to Allura. Then he looks over and eyes Shiro. “Are you quite done breaking my son’s heart?”
“Antok,” Keith sighs, but Shiro just nods.
“I don’t plan on going anywhere.”
Antok nods curtly. “Very well. Kolivan, have you reached Rovan yet?”
Antok walks over to his bondmate, and the two of them start quietly discussing what to do when they get ahold of the Blade.
Keith pats Shiro’s shoulder. “See? Antok likes you.”
“I still think he’d prefer to toss me out into the void.” Shiro says, shaking his head. “But I don’t blame him. I know it must have hurt you when I disappeared.”
Keith sighs. “Well, yeah, but you’re back now. Everything’s okay.”
Just then, the others return.
“Hey! Shiro’s awake!” Lance announces as the others come in behind him.
“You scared us to death, you ass.” Pidge grumbles, coming over to stand next to Keith.
Shiro smiles. “Sorry, Katie.”
“Well you look a lot less dead. Good job, ‘Laz.” Thace hums, slipping up behind the doctor.
Ulaz looks up at his bondmate, unamused. “It was Keith, actually. And where the void were you all? We couldn’t reach you.”
Lance tilts his head. “Well we were shrunk by a magic skunk, but we ended up using that sparkly dust that makes electricity bigger, or whatever, and used it to unshrink ourselves. So, ready to charge up the lions?”
Keith, Shiro and Ulaz give the Red Paladin very similar exasperated looks. Then Shiro laughs.
“It’s good to be back.”
~*~
With the lions now at least partially charged, they pack up and are ready to head out in a varga.
Pidge can’t get a hold of Earth, and by Coran’s calculations, and Pidge’s corrections of those calculations, it will take over a decaphoebe to get there. But at least they have a timeframe. Then it’s time to figure out who’s riding with who.
“Whatever the configuration, I need to ride with Shiro.” Ulaz says immediately, turning to said (former?) paladin. “You have just recovered from being dead for several phoebes and I’m still not totally convinced your soul isn’t about to reject your body or vice versa. I need to keep an eye on you for a little while longer, for everyone’s peace of mind.”
“And uh, I hate to say it, but the five of us,” Thace says, gesturing at the Blades, “cannot all go with Keith, as much as we might like too. Black is big but five full grown Galra plus Shiro and the kid is gonna be… cramped, to say the least.”
“So we’ve got to figure out a way to divvy up the Blades and animals in a way that no one feels like they’re packed in like sardines.” Hunk says, nodding. “So… how do we do that?”
After a bit of back and forth, Lance decides he’s the best one to figure out where everyone should go. Which ends up being an unmitigated disaster for the sole reason that he takes Antok in Red with him. Romelle had to stop Keith’s large, infuriated father from stabbing Lance in the head.
So they stop and switch things around again.
Now Keith has Shiro, Ulaz and Thace. Antok and Krolia are with Hunk, and Kolivan is with Allura, working through what to tell the coalition when they can finally get ahold of them.
They stick everybody else with Pidge, the sneaky little gremlin.
“By the way, it’s nice to officially meet you, Shiro.” Thace says after they’ve been flying for a while. “I know I met the clone, but well, that was a clone. So hi, I’m Thace, Keith’s uncle-slash-dad.”
Ulaz sighs. “Eloquent as usual, Thace.”
“Oh hush, you love me.”
“For some reason.”
Keith rolls his eyes. His papa is so weird.
Shiro, for his part, takes it in stride. “It’s good to meet you, Thace. Keith’s told me a lot about you.”
“And I’ve heard a lot about you. Now tell me, just what are your intentions towards my son?”
Keith groans. “Papa!”
“Just messing with him, kiddo.”
“Thace, honestly.”
Thankfully, any further mayhem is interrupted by Kolivan opening the comm. “We’re in the Klii-Nyn system. There should be a Blade rally point nearby. I may be able to get in contact with Rovan from there.”
Keith nods. “We should check it out, maybe we can reach the rest of the Coalition from there too.”
They make a quick detour towards the station, and Kolivan tries hailing them. “Hailing Zailox Station, this is Kolivan. Status report.”
Only static greets them.
“Zailox Station, report.”
Keith frowns. “Something’s wrong. Let’s get down there.”
They land and Antok pries the doors open.
The place is deserted. No power. It seems like it’s been abandoned for years.
“That is impossible.” Antok rumbles. “It was fully operational when I checked in with them last, right before we went into the quantum abyss. That was only a few cycles ago.”
“What happened here?” Thace mutters.
Before they can investigate further, they are attacked and have to get the void out of dodge.
The fighters that are chasing them aren’t acting like standard Empire fighters, which is as odd as it is annoying. It means they can’t predict their movements. They’re also using some weird new weapons.
And, to make matters worse, they can’t form Voltron. The lions are too low on power.
So they divert to an ice planet inside a cyclone in order to try and lose their pursuers.
That’s when Keith notices Coran.
“How did you get here?”
Coran looks just as confused as he does. “The wolf brought me. Somehow.”
Keith frowns. The wolf is smart, far smarter than your average canine. He must think they need Coran.
Soon after the team splits to thin the pursuers, the Black Lion gets some unfriendly extra baggage.
“I’ll take care of it.” Shiro says, then gets held back by Ulaz.
“The void you will, you are still recovering. As your doctor I forbid it. Now stay here with Keith. Thace, come with me.”
Thace grins. “Yes, dear.”
“I’ll help to!” Coran says and runs after the two blades.
His fathers get out onto the hull and quickly dispatch their boarder and reappear in the cockpit a moment later.
“Where’s Coran?”
“He didn’t follow us up.” Ulaz says, frowning.
“Must be down in the hold.” Thace shrugs.
Even after all their ass-kicking, they still end up captured, which is really frustrating, especially since it’s Lotor’s old generals who have them.
Ughh.
They keep shouting at them about Lotor and “where have you been” and that makes no sense to anyone.
Then they threaten Pidge and Keith breaks Ezor’s nose.
The woman shrieks and rears back, dropping the green Paladin to the floor.
“Touch my pack again, I dare you.” He snarls, feeling his shift ripple over him, ears snapping back against his head.
His fathers move to flank him shielding the other paladins behind them.
His wrists are bleeding from breaking through the restraints, but he doesn’t have time to worry about that now.
Before Zethrid can punch him like she obviously wants to, an alarm goes off. A hull breach in the lion’s hanger. Wow, go Coran.
After the pirates hurry out, Krolia sneaks over to the door, peering out. “Okay, this is our chance. The next time that door opens, we overwhelm the guard.”
“And then we kick pirate ass.” Thace adds, growling.
But then there are several loud thumps from outside, and the door hisses open. When they peer out, they see the mice sitting on the unconscious guard.
Allura leans down to thank them, and they relay some information.
“Coran is trying to break us out. And he’s got some help. Acxa.”
Keith raises an eyebrow. “Huh.”
“Guess you really did change her mind in the weblum.” Hunk says cheerfully.
“Guess so. Come on, guys, we have to go get Coran.”
Keith and Antok – who busted out of his restraints with zero trouble – hurriedly unshackle everyone else and then they all race down the hall towards where the mice are leading them.
Coran is not having a good time when they find him, but he’ll be okay. They find their bayards and helmets and take out the guards guarding them before Keith tells the others to go on ahead.
“And where do you think you’re going, menace?” Kolivan growls.
“We can’t just leave Acxa. She helped us.”
“I’ll go with him.” Thace volunteers. “You all get to the lions. We’ll catch up.”
“Be careful, both of you.” Ulaz sighs.
“Come on, ‘Laz, have a little faith.”
“Keith,” Shiro starts, looking pensive.
“I’ll be fine, Shiro.” Keith assures. “Come on, Papa.”
As Keith and Thace run down the hall, he can hear Ulaz sigh.
“We really do have a pair of reckless idiots for mates, don’t we Shiro?”
A quiet laugh. “I’ll say.”
~*~
They find Axca holding her own rather well against Zethrid and Ezor, but she certainly doesn’t turn down the help.
Eventually Zethrid throws Keith bodily across the hallway, where he crashes into Acxa, and they crash into Thace. They end up in a storage room full of…
Keith squints. “Is that what I think it is?”
Acxa nods. “Synthian nitrate.”
Thace grimaces. “Oh, Ulaz is gonna love this.”
Keith opens a comm. “Guys! Zero in on my location and fire on the ship!”
“Are you sure?” Allura asks incredulously.
“Just do it!”
“Hang on kids, gonna be a bumpy ride.” Thace mutters, wrapping his arms around them both before flooring his jetpack, sending them all hurtling out of the room just in the nick of time.
It explodes behind them and they’re sucked out into space, where Black meets them.
Keith darts up into the cockpit and throws himself into the pilot’s seat. They get away fairly easily, all while the ship explodes behind them.
They make it to an abandoned station of some kind before the lions decide they’re done for the time being and collapse.
They’re not in good shape.
Everyone huddles up around a newly built fire, prepared to wait a while before heading back out.
And that’s where Acxa very helpfully informs them that they’ve been missing for three decaphoebes, and Kolivan promptly loses his shit.
“I… need some air.” He growls, and stalks out of the cave, Antok on his heels. Oh boy.
“So how did you end up helping us?” Keith asks Acxa. He’s not gonna try and worry about Kolivan or the rest of the Blades. Not yet anyway.
“We were marooned on the meteoroid for several days before a Galra ship came to investigate Lotor’s last known whereabouts. We took it over. It was clear there was a power vacuum within the Empire with Lotor gone. Zethrid and Ezor wanted to exploit that, but I knew I had to find my own path. And it led me to you.”
She looks up at Keith.
He smiles. “Thank you for saving us.”
She shakes her head. “No, I should be thanking you. You showed me something important on the weblum. The way Galra should act towards one another. It planted a seed in my head that took a while to sprout, but in the end, I realize how twisted the Empire has turned us. We are not Galra, not like we’re supposed to be.”
“It takes many wise men and women a lot longer to reach that conclusion.” Ulaz says softly. “I commend you for arriving at it as quickly as you did.”
She nods. “I promise I will do everything I can to aid the Voltron Coalition.”
That’s when everyone starts wondering about the state of the coalition. And Earth. And the Blades.
Keith, Ulaz, Thace and Krolia slip out of the cave and find Kolivan and Antok outside.
“Three decaphoebes.” Kolivan rasps, head in his hands. “Gods, what have I done?”
“You could not have known.” Antok rumbles, hands resting on his bondmate’s shoulders.
“Antok is right.” Krolia assures. “None of us knew until just now. Kolivan, there’s nothing you could have done to prevent this.”
“I never should have left in the first place.” Kolivan growls.
“You needed to help our son.” Ulaz soothes. “The Blade knew that.”
“Yeah, and they would have been mad at you if you hadn’t helped him.” Thace points out. “Rovan’s tough, I’m sure they’ve been fine.”
Keith doesn’t say anything, just walks over to Kolivan and climbs up onto his father’s shoulders, resting his cheek on the top of Kolivan’s head.
Kolivan huffs but reaches up to squeeze Keith’s forearm.
“We cannot change the past.” Antok tells his bondmate. “We can only move forwards.”
“I know.” Kolivan looks up. “We need to keep trying to reach the base. They need to know we are alive.”
“And ready to fuck shit up!” Thace says cheerfully.
Keith smiles as Kolivan and Ulaz yell at Thace.
He has to believe that the rest of his family is alright, no matter where they are. And that he’ll see them as soon as he can.