Chapter Text
"You're late."
A mere two words and the princess, skilled diplomat that she was, had conveyed every ounce of annoyance concerning the matter. That, and Lance had eyes. Allura looked like the vein in her forehead could burst at any moment. He should probably feel bad about that. Then he thought about the very long night every single one of them had just had and decided that he didn't.
Waving away her comment, he took his seat and offered a half-assed apology. "Sorry, I usually come in after the opening credits." Okay, more like quarter-assed.
“ Lance.“
He flinched in spite of himself. That was Allura’s warning voice. Actually, it was her “so help me, I am three ticks from tossing you out an air lock if one more word comes out of your mouth” voice. And, for some reason, it didn’t click.
“Princess,” he said back in the most petulant tone he could manage.
This time, all three of them looked at him in annoyance. Which was fair, because he was kind of being a dick.
"As I was saying," Allura continued, clearly directing the words at him, "A delicate situation has come up."
Lance made a show of leaning over and whispering loudly, "Pidge, spark notes?"
The gremlin scoffed but replied anyway. "High school or middle school?"
"Kindergarten."
"Big planet is in charge of lots of smaller planets. Voltron wants all the planets to join the coalition. Big planet reached out to negotiate, but they wanna talk to the black paladin specifically."
Lance winked at her—just barely catching those hazel eyes roll upward—before turning his gaze to Allura again. "Shiro's in a healing pod."
"Yes, he is," she acknowledged. "A point that I was just getting to."
"So we wait."
"It's a time sensitive issue," Pidge commented.
Hunk nodded along. "Waiting too long would be like an insult and they'd never agree to anything, even if we did go talk to them."
"Okay, so Allura stands in."
"That won't be possible. The Suzaonides are—”
"Who?" The sounds grated together the wrong way, and not in any order he was expecting. Like she’d tried to say Suzy O’knight without any understanding of English.
Lance had the sudden thought that Allura might actually hit him if he kept going—which he supposed should be a sign to stop. He supposed. "The planet is called Suzaonide. Its inhabitants—"
"—are Szechuan-ites, got it. Continue."
“Suzanoides,” she corrected.
“That’s what I said.”
"They know Shiro is the black paladin," Pidge cut in before any carnage could happen. "More importantly, they know Allura isn't the black paladin."
"Okay, so we called this meeting to hash out that this mission is impossible? Super. I didn't need my beauty sleep anyway."
Allura stood over the console, seething. "I called this meeting to stress the importance of this alliance, Lance. These planets are in a central location relative to the rest of the coalition's front. We could protect an entire sector of the universe at once if they agree to join. We can't afford to insult them."
Apparently, they'd all realized Lance couldn't say every piece of dumb shit that popped into his head if they didn't give him time to speak. "Exactly," Hunk agreed. “Getting in their good graces is our best chance at making real progress here.”
“You’re a pretty obvious choice as the red paladin,” Pidge went on. “But they won’t discuss jack shit with you without a black paladin to accompany you.”
Allura nodded, taking control of the conversation again. "Seeing as this mission must succeed, and the black paladin is required to do so, I've called in reinforcements," she explained.
Lance processed that for a second or two before it hit him. "You didn't."
"Keith is more than capable of—"
"He's halfway across the universe doing god knows what to god knows who," Lance snapped.
"Actually, he's here."
"Excuse me?" It came out as more of a screech than a demand.
Allura fixed him with an especially harsh look. "I don't answer to you, Lance."
"It is her castle," Hunk commented with a shrug.
"And she's a princess," Pidge added.
He pointed to the gremlin. "Hunk, I get, but that was just rude."
Pidge stuck her middle finger out and Lance returned the gesture. Hunk stood up and stepped between their line of sight. "Okay guys, I think that's enough."
"Is someone picking a fight?" God, that voice grated on his ears. "I thought that was my job."
There he was, standing in the doorway like he'd never left. Lance felt his lip curl in disgust and he looked away. Out of all the ways he'd imagined their reunion going, an entrance like he'd just run out to get some milk definitely infuriated him the most. Of course it had to be the way things played out. The universe probably enjoyed seeing him suffer.
"Keith!" Hunk rushed over to crush their ex-teammate in a bear hug stronger than what an actual bear could do. Keith's feet dangled off the ground and he tried to keep the panic off his face. It was incredibly obvious that he was still not comfortable with being manhandled.
"What's up, Keith?" Pidge asked as Hunk finally put him down.
Keith shot her an easy grin. "Same old. The universe is still ruled by a magically-fueled madman committing genocide."
"Officially not a clone," Pidge announced. "Only the real Keith has such an awkward sense of humor."
“Hey, he’s still telling jokes,” Hunk insisted. “I was worried he’d revert into some kind of Blade of Marmora silent ninja.”
“Kolivan wishes,” he shot back.
“Thank you for taking the time to help us out with this, Keith,” Allura said, clasping his hands in hers.
“Of course. It’s great to be back, honestly. Even for a little bit.”
Keith looked at Lance for the first time since he left to go with the Blades. They stood and stared for an uncomfortable length of time. The stretching silence forced him to acknowledge their ex-teammate had somehow become even more rugged during his time away. He definitely hadn’t bothered to pick up a pair of hair clippers. Jet black hair framed his face in an infuriatingly handsome way and the rest fell just past his shoulders. More than anything, Keith looked like he didn't know what to say. Lance couldn't decide what to say first.
Allura cleared her throat, effectively interrupting Lance's tirade before it could even happen. "How was the flight here?”
“Big and spacey. Same old, same old. Shiro doing okay?"
"He's been in a healing pod for a quintant and will likely need another movement. Everything seems to be going smoothly. Coran is watching over him and sending regular updates.”
Keith nodded. "When are Lance and I leaving?"
He was so focused on how much he hated hearing his own name come out of Keith’s mouth that it took a few seconds to process how small the mission apparently was. “Lance and I?” he echoed, turning his gaze on Allura.
The princess’s eyes narrowed. “Yes. The two of you are going on this mission by yourselves.”
“Can’t be bothered to send anyone else?”
“I am not leaving this castle undefended in the meantime. Two paladins is more than enough to get the job done, and the rest of us can still respond to any distress calls nearby.”
“Then I call trading jobs with Hunk,” he huffed, crossing his arms.
Pidge frowned. “Hunk is working with me on our communications system for the coalition. Feel free to swap if you think you’re qualified for that.”
That one hurt a little bit. “How about I dedicate all three of my brain cells to babysitting Shiro’s pod? Coran would love to practice a little diplomacy.”
“I understand you don’t want to go on this mission, Lance,” Allura explained, “but war is about making hard choices.”
"Choice is a funny word since it sounds like you're not giving me any."
"We don't have time for this," Allura snapped.
Lance looked at her and realized he wasn't going to win. That didn't mean he had to admit defeat. It certainly didn't mean he had to be happy about it. So he did the next best thing. He turned and stormed out of the bridge.
Everything was going just great. First, their latest mission went horribly wrong and put Shiro in a healing pod. Then, Allura dropped that bomb of a bullshit mission on him without warning. But the cherry on top was definitely the return of the king. The emo version of Billy Ray Cyrus himself, back again like he’d never left. Lance tried not to think that his teammates seemed happier to see Keith than they were to see him every day. Even if it was probably true.
Lost in thought and seething, Lance wandered the castle without a destination. His feet came to a stop at the hall that led to the training room. Blowing off some steam sounded pretty good to him. Then the thought occurred to him that He Who Shall Not Be Named might be there. That would be just his luck. He passed the mess hall and made a face at the idea of Hunk trying to bribe a good mood out of him. Which was almost funny, seeing as those were few and far between and infinitely harder to earn. Like a solar eclipse.
He ended up pacing Blue’s hangar. The blue lion hadn’t let him fly her again, but he still ended up there a lot. It just felt familiar. It was quiet. And Allura almost never checked in on Blue at the same time he was there. Did she even check on the lion at all? Lance had spent a fair chunk of his free time in the hangar when he still flew her, but he had no evidence Allura cared about anything other than her stupid castle.
That’s not fair, he thought to himself. Allura is one of the last surviving Alteans after the planet was destroyed. Obviously there’s a lot on her plate. He’d gotten pretty used to unfair, though. Most of his behavior was unfair these days.
When he got tired of pacing, Lance reclined against one of Blue’s front paws and sighed. He wanted to go home. He wanted his family back. He wanted to feel needed. He was just so sick of fighting and losing sleep and almost dying. They’d almost lost Shiro and it wasn’t getting easier. And he was sick of feeling like a fifth wheel.
The hangar door slid open, and a surly-looking Pidge stalked inside.
“What’s up, Pigeon?” he crowed, sitting up. “Rare of you to visit me these days.” That was a load of bullshit and even he knew. And he knew that she knew he knew it.
Pidge looked unimpressed. Like she could see through everything. He hoped she couldn’t, or else he was really, really screwed.
“This mission is important.”
Lance made a show of nodding along. “Uh huh.”
“Messing this up would be a major setback in this area of the galaxy.”
“Yep.”
“The stakes are way higher than usual.”
He examined his nail beds. “Are you going somewhere with this?”
“Do not let whatever the hell happened between you and Keith make this planet put Voltron on their shit list.”
“It’s not my fault he—”
“Just promise me you won’t cause a scene.”
Lance crossed his arms over his chest and stuck his nose in the air. “I will promise no such thing. He’s an ass.”
“Then he’s an ass you have to work with. And you have to be believable, too.”
“I’m afraid I can’t guarantee—”
“Lance,” she snapped. “This isn’t a game.”
The smirk cracked. “Fine,” he said at last, seeing the irritation in her face. “I promise.”
“You promise what?”
He rolled his eyes. “I promise not to cause a scene.”
She just kept staring.
“Dios, you’re thorough.” Lance held up his right hand like he was a boy scout. “I hereby do solemnly promise not to cause a scene because of or related to Keith Kogane in particular.” Pidge seemed satisfied with that, if annoyed. “For the duration of this mission,” he added as an afterthought. Just for his peace of mind.
“If everything goes well, it’ll just take a few hours,” she said in a vague attempt at optimism. He couldn’t even appreciate the effort, with all the luck they’d been having as of late.
“Pidgerino, my dear friend,” he said gravely, “Keith Kogane is involved. We’ll be lucky if they don’t chase us out by nightfall.”
She raised an eyebrow. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
Lance scratched his chin in thought. “I wouldn’t mind it, actually. At the very least, it would be great entertainment. It’s not like I can understand any of the Altean movies.”
“Unbelievable,” she muttered to herself, shaking her head. “You should suit up. Keith’s already at the lockers.”
“What, you drew the short stick and had to come tell me?”
Pidge sighed. “Lance, sometimes you’re an even bigger ass than you think you’re being.”
“Depends. I think I’m being a pretty big ass right now.”
“And I didn’t draw the short straw. I volunteered.” The olive branch presented itself. One last chance out of many, many undeserved chances. The right thing to do would be to apologize and thank Pidge for her friendship.
He nodded solemnly. “You should probably get your head checked, then.”
“Oh, really? Because Allura thought she’d end up smacking you and Hunk didn’t want to say anything mean.” Another chance to take it all back that he didn’t deserve. Because he didn’t deserve anything. Not a damn thing.
“Don’t sound so confident, Pidge,” he snapped without really thinking about what he was saying. “Things must be pretty bad if the socially inept tech-head had to come talk to me.”
“Fuck off, Lance,” she replied, storming out of the hangar.
Lance watched her go, chewing at the inside of his cheek before he did something stupid like try to apologize. It would just make things worse. But he readily admitted to himself that he’d made a cheap shot. Mostly unprompted, too. Alright, entirely unprompted. And completely undeserved.
He looked up at Blue. For once, she actually seemed to be looking back at him. In disappointment, at least. “Yeah, yeah,” he muttered to himself, rubbing the back of his neck as he walked away. “I’m an ass.” That was certainly a nicer way to phrase it.
God, he wished more than ever that Blue would talk to him again. The hangar door slid open and he glanced over his shoulder at the lion. She was silent as ever. “You know, it feels like you’re just another person who left.”
Blue didn’t say anything. Not even the rumbling purr that let him know she was listening.
Just like the pigeon had told him, Keith was already fishing out the black armor from its locker when he walked into the room. He stepped up to his locker without a word and stared at everything except the other person there with him. Maybe ignoring him was a little childish. Okay, it was pretty childish. But the last thing he wanted to do was ask Keith about the weather, let alone what he’d been up to since he up and left Voltron. God forbid Keith wanted to talk about what the hell his problem was in the bridge. Not that there was much need for small talk; when Lance set his helmet aside and glanced over, he was still fiddling with the same piece as before.
Keith continued adjusting his left gauntlet, the armor not quite clicking into place. "This feels weird," he muttered.
Lance bit back a witty retort asking him to clarify. What, helping your friends? was on the tip of his tongue. But a certain, unnamed gremlin on the team had very specifically asked him not to cause a scene. So he wouldn't. Probably. He'd try his best.
"Good thing it's temporary, right?" Lance shot back. Damn, that had sounded way less confrontational in his head.
Keith took it in stride. Or maybe he just hadn't noticed the tension in his tone, his face, or everything else about him. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm literally a spy, Lance. This armor announces us whether we want it to or not."
"So you think you're hot shit because you sneak around and stab people sometimes," Lance drawled. And hoped to god it sounded like a joke—because he wasn't sure himself.
"You know, now that you mention it, I do think I'm hot shit. I'm such hot shit, y'all tracked me down across the universe to ask for me help." Keith finally looked up to meet his gaze, gauntlet clicking into place. There was a stupid smirk on his face and Lance suddenly had the urge to smack it off him.
Like we had any other option , echoed through his mind and it took more effort than he'd like to admit keeping it there. "Watch it, Kogane. There's one or two paladins hanging around who could probably take you on."
"I'd like to see them try, McClain."
Keep standing there looking stupid, and that could be arranged .
"Me too, but I promised the team no bruises."
"That was a stupid thing to promise."
"And here I thought having to sneak around would temper your stab-first-ask-questions-later nature."
"Not what I meant, dumbass."
"I know. But this is basically a press conference. The armor's a symbol. Not, you know, actual armor. In this case, at least."
"How is armor not armor?” Keith asked, cocking his head. “It's armor."
It was going to be a long mission. "Forgot you still kinda don't get metaphors. Come on, Hunk will cry his eyes out if we leave without saying goodbye."
Keith tensed up like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "I can just meet you at the ship."
The whole hero’s welcome–the prodigal son’s return–and he still couldn’t be bothered to own up to their friendships. Unbelievable. Lance walked over and looped his arm through Keith's, pulling him out of the armory and down the hall. "Nope. The rest of the team will actually be sorry to see you go."
Actually?
The word was on the tip of his tongue and Lance could see it. And he was really glad Keith kept it there. He wasn’t sure he could still keep his promise to Pidge and provide an honest answer to that question. Just another puzzle for the Blade to figure out. All the crazy mixed signals Lance was putting off. The way his words said welcome back but everything else said what are you doing here?