Chapter Text
The first time it happens, Colleen barely thinks anything of it.
She's too busy panicking over the fact that Katie was apparently almost hit in the face with a blaster without her helmet on to scold Adam for taking the shot on her behalf. Coran bustles him into one of the cryopods and claims he'll be good as new, and that is that.
The next time it happens, when Adam breaks a leg diving off a cliff to reach Keith (who has a working jetpack and gets himself up the cliff on his own), Colleen gives it a little side-eye but chalks it up to Adam's brotherly instincts when it comes to Keith.
And then Adam nearly gets himself killed when his first instinct is to run toward a bomb to block it instead of running away.
And Colleen realizes.
Adam is constantly putting himself in danger, taking unnecessary risks, stepping in between the younger paladins and whatever danger has befallen them regardless of whether they can handle that danger on their own.
Adam is an adult. He can do what he wants and make his own choices.
Adam is an adult. He should be protecting the children that he got signed up for this.
But neither of those things mean he should be almost dying every time the paladins go out on a mission, and Colleen can't help but feel responsible for it. Guilty, even.
True, she's still not particularly happy with Adam, but he's also doing his best. Juggling the same wants and needs that she is, just in a different way. And apparently his way involves stepping into the path of danger instead of trusting the others to remember their extensive training.
She's partly responsible for it, which now means she's partly responsible to get him to stop doing it.
Just as soon as he gets out of his current stint in the healing pod.
When it's Colleen there, waiting for him to leave the healing pod in the middle of the night, Adam thinks of the worst. Had he not protected the others well enough? Are they hurt? Are they dead?
"I'm sorry," Colleen says, and Adam spirals.
"No, no. The others are fine. That's what I wanted to talk to you about."
"They're fine?"
"They're fine. You, on the other hand... Coran told me it isn't good for you to spend so much time in the healing pods. Something about draining your quintessence?"
"Oh," Adam says. It doesn't seem all that important. His quintessence feels fine.
"Adam."
Adam gets the distinct impression that he's somehow in trouble, but he has no idea for what.
"I'm sorry," she says again. "I think this is my fault, partially. But you can't keep doing this. You can't keep putting yourself in danger like this."
"Who are you and what have you done with Colleen Holt? I need to keep them safe. I got us into this mess, after all."
"True," Colleen allows. "But if something happens to you, the kids will be devastated."
"What about something happening to them?"
"As much as I hate to say it, that's part of parenting. You can't protect your kid from every single thing."
Adam is far too young to be a parent, even if Keith is his own. But he can understand the sentiment.
"Most parents don't involve their kids in a galactic war. I'm the adult. I know the risks. If I need to put myself in more danger to protect them, so be it."
"Eventually one of those risks is going to take you too far," she says. "And what happens then? I'm certainly not going to become the Black Paladin in your stead. You got us into this war, and I expect you to get us out."
It's a nice idea, but it doesn't matter, in the end. As long as he can find Takashi and the Holts, keep the other Paladins safe, everything will have been worth it. He knows he's just a replacement for Takashi in Keith's eyes, anyways. If he falls in the process?
"I can see you thinking. You need to trust them. They haven't been doing all this destructive training for nothing."
"So what are you going to do, strap me down in the Black Lion and keep me from going on the next mission?"
Colleen's eyes turn sharp.
It's a simple mission, all things considered. They're just doing some recon on a shipping terminal, trying to pin down some movements and see if they can get possible information on Galra prisons. Keith shouldn't be surprised that Adam is sitting this one out, especially since he just came out of the healing pod.
But that's not how Adam operates. Keith has seen him teach their flight class with food poisoning. He hasn't taken his eyes off of any of them in a mission yet, somehow looking in four directions at once.
"Adam and I will be overseeing this mission from the Black Lion's cockpit," Colleen says over the comms. "He can step in if there's trouble, but otherwise, we will be observing."
"Excellent," the princess says. "This will give us a good opportunity to test the other Paladins on their skills."
Keith shares an uneasy look with the others. He doesn't like this. He doesn't want to be tested, and why does it seem like Adam is being benched?
It doesn't help his uneasiness that, for some reason, the other paladins seem to be looking to Keith for instructions on the mission. Why would he know anything about the Galra equivalent of a post office? Do they suspect? Do they know?
He tries not to think about it. They're here for Pidge and Hunk to plug in and get as much data as they can before someone notices them. He and Lance are supposed to be on lookout duty. That's what he should be focusing on.
But there's a problem. The computer doesn't want to boot up. There's some kind of log in prompt, and without that, the system won't let Pidge and Hunk in. The whole mission will be a bust.
"There's a handprint," Lance says, slapping his palm down on the symbol that does indeed look a bit like a hand.
Nothing happens.
Hunk tries it, too, and so does Pidge. They finally look at Keith, and he rolls his eyes but puts his hand down, too.
The computer immediately boots up.
Oh.
Oh no.
"Well that's weird," Lance says, but both Pidge and Hunk have turned a calculating gaze in Keith's direction. They're smart. A lot smarter than Keith. They'll figure it out, and they'll tell the princess, and Keith will be kicked out of Voltron for sure. It doesn't matter what Adam says about it. He'll be outvoted.
"Might have been a fluke," Adam says over the comms.
"Right, we all got it warmed up," Lance says.
Hunk and Pidge don't look convinced, but they start downloading data without any other comments. Seems like they'll wait until the mission is over to rat Keith out.
The minute the Green Lion (chosen for its cloaking capabilities) touches down in its hangar, Keith bolts, heading for the safety of the Red Lion's cockpit. Adam is waiting there for him.
"Allura doesn't know," he says. "She and Coran weren't on the comms for that mission."
It's a small mercy. Hunk and Pidge will certainly tell her anyways, but at least Keith has a little bit of a reprieve.
Adam stays with him for a couple hours before heading out to bring them something to eat. The moment he leaves the hangar, Hunk and Pidge sneak in.
The Red Lion lowers her ramp down for them, the traitor.
"Um," Hunk says. "So we noticed something on that mission, and I don't want to be alarmist, but also I feel like maybe you should know, but also we don't want to, um."
"We think you might be Galra," Pidge says for him.
"Yeah? I know?" Keith says despite himself. He's never been a particularly good liar. "I mean, I am. Galra."
"You knew and you didn't tell us?" Hunk says, looking for some odd reason like he's about to cry.
"Um," Keith says.
Pidge rolls her eyes and elbows Hunk in the gut. "It was probably a sensitive topic." She says it under her breath, but Keith can still hear her.
"He doesn't trust us!" Hunk whispers back.
"It's not that I don't..." Keith trails off. It is that he didn't trust them. He thought they'd see him as Galra and immediately turn against him.
Pidge rolls her eyes again. "I mean, we knew you were part alien. It isn't a huge surprise that you're the part that has spread all over the universe."
"Oh." Keith hadn't thought about it like that.
"Adam knows, obviously," Pidge says, and it's not a question but Keith answers it anyway.
"Yeah. He was the one who broke the news to me. Your mom knows, too."
"We should tell Lance. I know for sure he won't care, but he'd feel bad if he was left out of the loop. What about the Alteans?" Hunk asks.
"Coran knows. Allura..."
"Oh, shit," Pidge says. It about sums up Keith's thoughts on the matter.
"Coran doesn't think she'll take it well."
"Is that why you didn't tell us?" Hunk asks. Keith just nods. "Well, we won't say anything."
It's about the time that Adam comes back, smirking as he does. It occurs to Keith that Adam probably planned this so that Hunk and Pidge could talk to him alone. He must have seen them pass him in the hall on their way to Red's hangar.
"Everything alright?" he asks, as if he doesn't already suspect it.
"Yeah, yeah," Keith says, refusing to smile when Adam nudges him.
At least they didn't kick him out of Voltron.
Yet.