Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I won’t be waiting for you when you get back.”  

Shiro would be lying if he said he wasn’t still hopeful that Adam had waited for him all this time. He hoped Sam had gotten his message to him after all this time, how sorry he was he hadn’t reached out, how he didn’t say anything after he escaped the Galra… How he wished he could’ve gone back and just listened to him. 

When they arrived, he smiled watching the others reunite with their families, Pidge wrapping themself around Colleen, who held her youngest child in tears, and Lance who was embraced by a whole group of people. He had his hand on Keith’s shoulder, before they turned at the sight of Sam, smiling as he took his hand, the two pulling each other close. “Good to see you again, Commander Holt,” Shiro said. 

He also couldn’t resist giving Iverson shit for the Garrison strapping him down after his escape, although he quickly assured the man he understood when Coran seemed to join in, not wanting the Alteans to get the wrong idea. 

He turned to Sam, a bit of a nervous smile on his face now. “I’m glad to see you all and everything, but… is Adam… Is he here?” 

Iverson and Sam looked at each other, Colleen having straightened herself up as well, glancing between the men, her gaze landing on Shiro, like she was sad, like she felt sorry. 

He felt his heart drop to his stomach, which he felt like was doing somersaults. He gave Sam a pleading look. He was silently begging him to tell him good news. Begging for his feeling to be horrendously wrong. 

“Sam… Sam, where is he?” He was not asking a superior officer anymore, he was asking his friend where his fiance, who, dammit, he should’ve listened to, was. Where was he? Had he left? 

The looks they gave him told him something far worse, something he didn’t want to hear. But he had to. If it was the truth, they had to tell him. 

“Shiro… I’m so sorry-” 

“No…” 

“He fought in the previous attacks-” 

Shiro’s hand clenched into a tight fist as he listened to Sam, who continued to explain. He explained that, against his own recommendations and Iverson’s protest, Sanda ordered for the attack, where Adam and his team had perished. 

Friends and colleagues and more importantly, Adam, had been killed. The love of his life was gone. It wasn’t fair. 

“Who.. Who is Adam?” Pidge asked quietly. 

“He was an instructor for some of the upper classes at the Garrison, right?” Lance asked, glancing over at Keith. 

“He was. And he and Shiro were engaged,” Keith muttered, cautiously resting his hand on Shiro’s shoulder. 

It couldn’t be comforting like it might have been in any other situation. It didn’t fix this, and it didn’t take away that sinking feeling. Eventually, Iverson had taken him where they had memorialized those lost, Shiro finding Adam’s name among them, three stars beside his name to show his rank. And that was it. 

There was no grave to visit, they had never recovered his body, so there was nothing to bury, and even if they could have, with how things were, it wasn’t like they could’ve gone about making proper gravestones. Not that Adam would have wanted one anyways. 

He always said he couldn’t understand wanting to be buried in a casket and confined to that small space forevermore. Shiro had laughed a bit and pointed out it didn’t really matter at that point, did it? But Adam had insisted, even as the two kind of laughed at the notion they’d even have to worry about it until years and years down the line. 

It made his heart ache a little more to remember that. It had just been a passing conversation while watching some random show that had come on their TV and they had gotten engrossed in, despite being horrendously out of the loop for whatever was happening on the screen or what character had passed away. The conversation had moved quickly to a more lighthearted topic, and they had just enjoyed their time. Together. Doing nothing but talking, and being close to one another- 

It hurt so much to think about now. It would’ve hurt more than their argument had he ever had the chance to talk to Adam. And maybe Adam really wasn’t going to wait on him anyways. Maybe that really was it when he still went on that damned mission. Maybe Adam wouldn’t have wanted to speak with him. But he had wanted so badly to try. So badly hoped he could at least apologize to him. 

But he couldn’t. The last words they had for each other was a damned argument that they never should’ve had. 

Eventually, Iverson pulled him from his thoughts, and Shiro pulled himself together, barely, for a meeting he honestly wished could wait. He knew it couldn’t, of course, but he could wish if he damn well wanted to. 

When they next had the chance, Sam approached Shiro, stopping the younger man by placing a hand on his good shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. 

He turned to face him, and no matter how much he tried to hide it, Sam could see how much he was hurting. 

“I know that nothing will really help right now.. I know if I was in your place and it was Colleen-” Sam couldn’t even finish it, the thought alone enough to make him take a deep breath and let it out in a sigh, shaking his head, “I… I can’t say I’m sorry enough, Shiro. Maybe I could’ve gone against Sanda’s orders- or done something more… But I thought I should give you this… I was able to give him your message, eventually, and he made this for you,” Sam said, holding out a small device, similar to the one they had all used to make their messages for their families. 

Shiro took it, trying to keep his hand steady, before placing it in his pocket. “Thank you, Sam… And I don’t think you could’ve done anything different, it wasn’t your fault,” Shiro said, grimacing slightly at the crack in his own voice he had tried to hide. 

“Now, I don’t know what he says. He made it quite clear it was for your eyes only, not even Keith is allowed to see it, apparently. He gave it to me while we were preparing for everything, just in case… I would’ve shown you sooner, but I had to find it again with everything going on.” 

Shiro let out a short, dry laugh at that. “Guess Pidge had to get the chaotic “organization” from somewhere,” he muttered, going into his room, where he had been heading when Sam stopped him. He stood in the doorway briefly, before turning to Sam again. “Thank you… For giving this to me.” 

“Don’t thank me… Let me know if you need anything, and I’m sure Colleen would be willing to talk as well, but don’t let her fool you, she might get emotional with you,” Sam said with a slight laugh, but it was true. She could be tough most of the time but if she caught Shiro crying she might’ve joined him. 

“Like you wouldn’t, too,” Shiro mused, getting a laugh out of the older man. 

“Fair enough,” he said with a laugh. “I’ll leave you be, but I mean it, Shiro, let me know if there’s anything you need.” 

He only left when Shiro nodded, and stepped into the room. He clutched the device tightly in his hand, taking a deep breath as he connected it to the monitor in the living space, and watching the screen come to life, seeing Adam’s face appear, clearly adjusting the camera he had used to record. 

“Okay… that should- oh, damn, I turned it on too soon- whatever, guess it doesn’t really matter.” 

The soft swear almost made Shiro laugh through the tears already welling up in his eyes. Adam always tried to watch his language, especially around cadets, although usually things like that small little mishap would build and something would slip out like it had. 

“I wish we could get in contact with you so we don’t have to do… Whatever you wanna call this.. Then again this is just in case something happens… I’d like to think it won’t happen, but you know by now I’d be kicking myself in my not-grave if I hadn’t made this.” 

Shiro couldn’t stop the tears that rolled down his cheeks at those words, trying to wipe them away as quickly as they came, but his shaking hand did nothing as more tears followed. He was like a dam about to break, the cracks allowing leaks to come through. 

“If you are hearing this from this video, then… I’m sorry, Takashi… Sam told me some more information when I had questions after watching your message… And after watching it… I just- I’m sorry. I’m sorry how we left things- how I left things…”

He averted his gaze from the camera, Shiro watching Adam’s hand reach under his glasses. He was wiping away his own tear and pushing back the crack in his own voice trying to escape. 

“I know how important it all was to you… And while I, obviously, still wished you hadn’t gone, I could’ve tried to be more understanding… And I certainly could’ve avoided saying anything as hurtful as I did… I am waiting for you, Takashi… Even when they tried to say you all were… The point is, I’m here… I am waiting… I always will. As for your apologies, I forgive you, and I hope you forgive me, and maybe when all this is over, when Earth, and the universe is safe, we can have everything we wanted, and planned…” 

He was smiling, even with tears in his eyes, and his voice cracking and near breaking, just as Shiro was watching it. 

He forgave me… Dammit he forgave me and he apologized as if he did anything wrong- 

“I love you Takashi… And I’m waiting for you so just… Get home, safely, please.”

Shiro couldn’t hold it back anymore, and he practically crumpled to the floor as the video ended and he was faced with the fact Adam was gone. He cursed whatever higher being there might be in this universe for taking Adam away, cursed himself for not getting there in time. For taking too damn long to get home. 

His mind ran through everything he could’ve done differently until his head hurt and his body ached from the sobs that shook his entire form. 

He was a mess, and he really, really didn’t care right now. He couldn’t. He couldn’t hold it back, not his crying that was damn near wailing in agony, the sharp inhales he took only to continue, the fact that his chest hurt and he was more convinced than ever that heartbreak led to real, physical pain as well. 

It felt like someone had slammed the weight of the entire world down on him and he was left alone to carry it. He wanted to scream and he couldn’t without having the paladins and probably ten other people running in there and he didn’t want any of them right now. He wanted Adam. He wanted Adam. 

And he couldn’t have him. 

He couldn’t hold him. Couldn’t steal his glasses to mess with him anymore. Couldn’t make that god awful Garrison coffee with him in the morning anymore. He’d never be able to sneak a peak at him teaching classes through the window of the classroom or the doorway anymore. They’d never ride the hovercraft together again or fly together again and it hurt.

It was a hurt more than anything the Galra had done to him, and he wasn’t sure how it was possible. 

He was like that… well, he didn’t know, or care how long. 

Eventually, his handheld dinged with a message from Sam saying the paladins were looking for him, and he was asking what he needed to tell them. 

He couldn’t appreciate having Sam as a friend more than he did right now. 

He loved their team like family, but right now he couldn’t handle any of them asking how he was or if he was okay, because he wasn’t. And he couldn’t begin to explain the hurt he felt right now. It felt like a ridiculous thought given Allura and Coran lost the entirety of their race and planet, but this was still different, and he wasn’t sure if either of them would understand any more than the other paladins. 

Shiro called Sam, leaning his back against the couch, still sitting on his floor. 

“Tell them I just need a bit to myself right now… And… Sam?” 

“Yes, Shiro?” 

“Thank you… I- thank you.” His voice had cracked again and he felt himself near crying again, and he could almost perfectly imagine the expression Sam probably had on his face. 

“I’ll tell them.. It’s almost dinner time. You may not want to, but you should eat. I’ll bring it to you, if you want.” 

“I can’t go anywhere right now… Not like this.” 

“Then food coming to you it is, and don’t tell me not to. You’re eating, and that’s final.” 

Shiro laughed slightly at Sam’s insistence, and sure enough, about twenty minutes later, Sam had two plates of food in his hands, handing one to Shiro when the younger man let him in. 

“Do you want me to stay here with you? We don’t have to talk if you don’t want to,” Sam told him. 

Shiro nodded, the two eating quietly together up until Shiro was finished, and it was like the moment he wasn’t focused on something else, it hit him all over again. Sam looked at him sadly, before sitting beside him and hugging him as tightly as he could. Shiro, thankfully, accepted the embrace to hug his friend back, his own grip tighter than Sam’s. It was like he was holding on for dear life. Like letting go meant he might lose his friend, too. 

“It’s not fair, Sam,” he cried, sobs quickly assaulting his already aching chest again as his face buried itself into Sam’s shoulder. 

“I know, Shiro… I know,” Sam muttered, sighing softly as he tried to offer him some kind of comfort, although he knew all he could really do was be there. 

Had it been Colleen, he knew he’d be far worse than Shiro was. There would’ve been no holding it in, no keeping himself collected. He would’ve been impressed before when he saw Shiro holding it back if he didn’t know it was going to lead to this. But he did know. Because the dam had to break at some point. Everyone and everything had its limits. Shiro was no different in that. 

He tried his hardest to hide this, to hide the hurt, but there was only so much he could do for only so long. He was just glad he was able to give him something, to get him to let it out. 

“Shiro… Do you mind me asking what he said?” 

“He… he forgave me- Sam, he apologized- he didn't have anything to be sorry for,” Shiro cried. “I was the one who was being stupid- and he- he had every right to be angry-” 

Sam sighed and just continued to hold onto the younger man. “He loved you… He said something that he felt may have hurt you and he regretted it… Just like you regret not listening to him, because you love him,” Sam said, which at least seemed to get through to Shiro, so he hopefully wouldn’t be so hard on himself about what happened before. “I only wish you two had had more time together… But I could tell you two already loved each other so much…” 

Shiro’s grip tightened, impossibly so as he listened to Sam. “I don’t know what to do… Without him…” 

“Keep moving forward… As hard as it is… As impossible as that feels… Just one foot in front of the other is all you really can do… I don’t think he’d expect anything else but that… To just keep moving, and living…” 

Shiro let out a shaky sigh, and Sam knew that probably sounded so out of reach and impossible right now, especially as he could feel the tension in Shiro’s body, could practically feel the ache himself as he tried his best to help him. 

“But, right now, you just need to feel it. Let yourself feel it, and try to rest… You need it… And if that doesn’t convince you, just remind yourself he’d want you to take care of yourself.” 

Shiro didn’t move, or say anything else, but he nodded, and a few moments later Sam felt his grip go slack, and his body almost leaned into him more. He sighed softly, knowing it all caught up to him, and his exhaustion had finally ripped the tension from his body in favor of pulling him to sleep. He got Shiro laid onto the couch they were sitting on, knowing good and well he shouldn’t wake him and he sure as hell couldn’t go carrying him to his own bed in the next room over. 

He found a blanket nearby, one Adam had gotten Shiro, and placed it over the younger man before leaving him be, taking the plates so Shiro didn’t have to worry about it, and cutting the lights off. 

Keith seemed to have known what was up, judging by the fact he was waiting in the doorway to their cafeteria where Sam was returning the plates to. 

“Is he…” 

“He’s not really going to be okay for a while, Keith, if I’m honest with you… He’s finally asleep though, and he ate, so I’m going to call that a win for the day,” Sam answered honestly. 

Keith nodded, then looked at him again. “Was… was Adam still upset with him? Shiro said he had sent a separate message with you-” 

“No, no, Adam wasn’t upset with him. He was just worried about him by the time I returned home, and sorry about what he had said to Shiro before the mission… He had a message for Shiro before he..” He trailed off, not needing to solidify anything further with words, before continuing, “However I was told very, very explicitly that it was Shiro’s eyes only and, I quote, ‘Keith cannot see this, at all, just Takashi,’ so, sorry,” Sam said, getting a small laugh out of Keith. 

“No worries, I wouldn’t want to invoke his wrath from the grave. He’d probably find some way to come back and scold me for not listening,” he said, although his smile faded slightly as he looked down. 

“You two got close pretty quickly, didn’t you?” Sam asked. 

“Yeah… It was easier since Shiro had kinda gotten through the roughest parts.” 

“You mean like stealing his car?” 

“You heard about that?” 

“And Iverson, and Sanda, given it was Garrison property as well, technically.” 

“How the hell did I even get in here after that?” Keith mumbled, but they both knew the answer: Shiro. 

“But, yeah, after… that, it was a little easier to get to know Adam, too… He was a good man. A strict as hell instructor from what I heard, but he seemed like he was looking out for everyone… He was looking out for Shiro, too, even if neither of us saw that.” 

“Well, you were just a kid, and Shiro just felt like he had something to prove. That he was still capable. And he felt like he was fighting the clock, it can cloud reasoning when someone feels like that,” Sam said. 

“Yeah, I guess you’re right… I just wish they could’ve seen each other again… They deserved that much… It’s just… It’s not fair,” he muttered, finally pushing off of the doorway he was leaning on, the two parting ways with a simple ‘goodnight,’ Sam insisting he get plenty of rest. 

He sounded like Shiro tacking that on to a goodnight, but then again he guessed Sam probably thought the same of him just for feeling the need to say it to him. Shiro tended to take care of all of them before himself, and he was glad Sam could make him stop for a minute and rest. He needed it. 

He needed it… because dammit, this just was not fair…

Chapter Text

It felt like forever. It might as well have been, actually. Too, too long. And that damned video wasn’t enough to hold him over for eternity. His memories weren’t enough to hold him over. 

He needed to see him again. He needed to touch his face, and his hair, to kiss him again and hold him, or be held, or whatever, he didn’t care- He just needed him. Like he needed water, and food, and to breathe oxygen. 

He had nearly died, and he assumed the Garrison thought he had. Honestly he had thought he was dead until a group of people found him and got him quickly to where it was safe and helped him after that horrific crash into the ground after nearly half his aircraft was destroyed by the Galran weapons. 

They couldn’t get him to the Garrison because of the distance. They were entirely too far out, and he wouldn’t have made it. Not to mention, they couldn’t get there safely with the Galra watching and going after any humans they didn’t already have enslaved. 

So, even when he was healed, trying to get back there was nearly impossible. But, eventually, they were able to reach out. The small group reaching out for assistance, to get to the Garrison where it would be safe, especially with the people injured from the last time they went out for supplies. 

Adam sighed as he listened to the crackle of no response. It was grating on his nerves, and he couldn’t even hear out of one ear anymore, or the lack thereof. He hadn’t gotten out of that crash unscathed, after all. His entire left side of his body was a scarred mess and there was a stupid little voice in the back of his mind that wondered what Takashi would even think of him- only for him to quickly shut that voice up with reasoning that Takashi was not the kind of person who gave a shit about things like that. 

Then again, he didn’t even know if Takashi was okay. THey hadn’t been able to get through to the Garrison, and he’d be damned if he risked his and other’s lives now just to try and get there when it just wasn’t possible without the Garrison’s help. He lived through that crash, and he was determined not to waste whatever second chance the universe had decided to give him. 

A voice coming through snapped him out of his thoughts, and had him whipping his head around to the person they had running comms. They were no Sam Holt, but they were decent enough. 

The voice belonged to someone young, probably too young to be running any form of literally anything at the Garrison, but he ignored that for now. The voice also sounded familiar somehow but he shook the thought right out of his head to come closer. 

“We’ll send something to help you all get here- do you have their-”

“Yep, got them, sending you their coordinates now and the best route back to us. I’ll let everyone know to get ready for them to get here,” the younger voice had interrupted Sam’s before he could even get the question out of his mouth. 

“Thank you, we’re low on supplies and it’s been nearly impossible to get anywhere to get anything,” the man stated, Adam partially felt bad for not remembering his name right now. 

“No need for any thank you, we all need to stick together. We’ll be sending a small team to get you all. I can’t promise it will be entirely safe, but it will be far better than any of you getting here alone,” Sam assured, and with that, the communication went out and they just had to wait. 

Adam paced despite the limp he had from the makeshift prosthetic where he had lost his leg in the attack. When the team from the Garrison arrived, they had a short window of time to get back without issue, according to the literal child who was checking the handheld they had with them, turning to another, taller boy who also seemed far too young to be involved in this. 

“Pidge is right, we have to hurry if we’re going to get you all there safely, but we’ll be here to handle any Galra in case they do catch up to us,” the boy stated, a rifle in hand that looked nothing like their own weapons, and the one he called ‘Pidge’ held a weapon with a glowing green blade. They also wore armor, and he finally pieced together these must be the paladins Sam had told everyone about, which meant the short one was his child, his daughter, and the taller one, if he remember correctly, was a boy named Lance.

They had also been the cadets who went missing after Shiro had escaped the Galra. He was still pissed at Iverson for not informing him at the time that it had been Shiro that night, still pissed he had had to wait this long when maybe, just maybe, he could’ve seen him that night. 

He wanted to ask the two if Shiro had returned with them, if he was alive and safe, but they were quickly engulfed in the group as a whole, and he decided it was best to just wait a little longer… Just a little longer. 

It took too long, in his mind, although by the sounds of shots outside the vehicles driving them through the tunnels, the two paladins had run into a bit of a struggle. Letting these two, actual children, handle it was enough to make him want to jump out but he refrained given it would do more harm than good. 

When they got back, he tried to look around the now crowd of people between the group coming in and the people with the Garrison trying to see everyone for their injuries and get them food and water. 

He kept trying to weave through people and look over heads, looking for Takashi. That’s the only person he wanted to see. Damn the food, water, medics, he didn’t care. He wanted Takashi. He was genuinely at his limits. 

He was especially at his limits when he heard the two paladins behind them. 

“Shiro, we got everyone back safely, definitely gonna need more supplies, they had a pretty big group going,” Pidge stated over their own comms, getting a confirmation, the two using their jet packs to get to the front of the crowd, probably to grab supplies and start getting it to everyone else too. 

He could just see a few others enter too, and one of them was who his eyes locked on. 

He was different, obviously. He had the scar across his nose that he had in the video he had sent, and now instead of a single tuft of white hair that he had had in the video, he had a head of white hair. He didn’t know if he really wanted to know what happened there, but it didn’t matter. 

He also noticed that rather than the Galra-tech arm he had had before in the video, he clearly had something of Sam’s engineering instead, something that made him a little thankful. It blended well with Shiro far more than some hostile alien tech that had been put on him without his asking. Or maybe that was just Adam being pissed they took his fiance's arm. He couldn't tell to be honest. 

He started trying harder to get past people, trying to keep his eyes on Takashi, not wanting to spend one more minute away from him. He ignored the people giving him strange looks as he tried to press through, and finally, he couldn’t take it. He couldn’t bite his tongue, and he could. Not. Wait. 

“Takashi!!” 

Everyone was so loud, he didn’t even know if he had been loud enough for his voice to carry, so he tried again, cupping his  hands around his mouth even as he moved through the large group. 

“Takashi!!” 

This time, those dark eyes he loved so much had shot up, and he saw the man looking around for the source of the voice. 

Keith came up, a hand on his shoulder. “Shiro, you okay?” he asked. 

“I… I thought I heard-” 

“Takashi!! Dammit I’m here!!” 

The brothers’ eyes widened as they now both searched the crowd, before Takashi seemed to get just as impatient as he was, moving through the so slowly dispersing group of people, looking wildly for Adam, until, finally, the people had thinned enough for them to see each other. 

Shiro turned his head, and they were frozen, just momentarily. 

Tears built in his eyes, and his breaths quickened as the disbelief on his face steadily turned into a smile of pure love and relief, and Adam did the same, feeling the tears roll down his cheek as he broke into a run to get to Takashi the best he could, met halfway by his lover as they all but crashed into each other. 

Shiro’s strong arms wrapped around Adam like a vice, with no intention of letting go as he stumbled slightly from them crashing together like they did, letting himself lean against the nearest wall. They didn’t need any words, not yet, Adam stopping Shiro’s impending apology by crashing their lips together and holding onto him as tight as he could. 

When they pulled away from each other, he smiled up at him, holding his face. “I- I didn’t think you’d come back… I was so worried about you- Damn, I missed you… I missed you so much, Takashi… I’m sorry I said I wouldn’t wait for you, I’d wait for you forever if I had to,” he told him, and Shiro couldn’t seem to hold back his own tears as he kissed him again, his good hand rested on Adam’s face, his thumb rubbing the tears from his cheek, although they stubbornly fell regardless. 

“I’m sorry I left, that I didn’t listen to you… You were just worried, and I was being stubborn, and hardheaded. I won’t leave you again, I promise I’ll never leave again,” he said, the two resting their heads against each other. “When they told me you were gone… when Sam gave me that video I- I didn’t know what I was going to do… I never want to lose you, not again,” he said, his voice cracking as he pulled him so tightly against him, his face buried in Adam’s shoulder, and Adam’s buried in Shiro’s chest. 

“I’m not going anywhere- We’re not going anywhere… I’ll make sure of it.” 

—----------

Keith watched from afar, leaning over onto Lance. 

“I can’t imagine how they must feel,” Lance muttered. 

“I don’t think I could explain it if I tried… I don’t think I’ve ever seen two people love each other that much,” Keith replied. Despite the tears, the smiles never left their faces, and they looked like they would never let each other go, and honestly? Keith couldn’t blame them. 

The two glanced over and saw Pidge watching too, their arms crossed over their chest and a small smile on their face. 

“Thought that kinda stuff grossed you out,” Lance teased.

“Any other time? Yeah, super gross. I don’t really get all the lovey-dovey stuff. But.. I dunno. They’ve been apart so long- Shiro thought he was dead… Just seems like they deserve this,” they said softly. 

“They do… They really do,” Keith muttered softly. 

“Shiro- Shiro where are you?” 

Sam’s voice breaks in through the comms, and the three stifle laughter when they see Adam swiftly removing Shiro’s earpiece and stuffing it into Shiro’s pocket, and Shiro making no effort to stop him. 

Keith goes over his own comms, still holding back the laughter. “Hey, may need to get Iverson to handle it, Commander Holt. Shiro’s a little preoccupied,” Keith said. 

“Did something go wrong?” 

“No, the opposite. You should come see.” 

Sure enough, Pidge eventually felt their dad’s hands on their shoulders, their head laying back to look up at the man, who looked shocked and like he was seeing a ghost. Which he probably felt like he was. 

“Well, I’d never…” A smile came onto his face as he saw the two laughing together, their hands intertwined like nothing could separate them. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look so happy,” Lance commented. 

“It’s nothing short of a miracle that Adam is alive, much less that he’s here,” Sam responded. 

Eventually, Sam patted Pidge’s shoulder and spoke again. “C’mon, kids, let’s give them some privacy, they deserve some time to themselves,” he said, turning his own child around to get them going, although none of them protested, Keith only taking one last glance back at the two before they got back inside. 

—------------

“You sure they aren’t going to need your help?” 

“This is going to sound terrible, but unless they absolutely need me and call for me, I don’t care right now,” Shiro told him honestly, getting their door open despite the food in his hands, because he insisted that Adam was going to have something decent. If Garrison food could be called that. 

Once inside, Adam put his hands on his hips, Shiro turning around and getting that look on his face that he always got when he realized he might be in trouble with his dear fiance. 

“What? What’s wrong?” He asked. 

Honestly, Adam thought it was cute, but he tried to keep a serious look on his face as he gestured to the couch, where it was obvious Shiro had been sleeping. “A perfectly good bed and you choose to sleep on the couch?” He pointed out. 

Shiro laughed a bit- leave it to Adam to point out something like that for his own well-being, but Shiro’s smile faded as he sat down the plates at the counter, pulling their respective stools out to sit at. “I… I couldn’t sleep there, once I found out,” he responded, his gaze still down. 

Adam’s gaze softened, and he sat beside Shiro, taking his hand. 

“Besides, you can’t say much, you still had the pillow and blanket there, too, don’t think I didn’t notice,” Shiro said, a small smile on his face, Adam’s grin reappearing too. 

“Ah, I’m caught,” he teased. 

“It’s just… Not the same without you,” Shiro had began, but Adam finished the statement with him, the two laughing a bit. There were times they were potentially too much alike. 

 “So, how has it been, being a paladin of this Voltron we’ve heard so much about?” Adam asked him, his curiosity getting the better of him. 

“It’s been… Something, although I’m not a paladin anymore, Keith took my place when I was recaptured, and then again when- oh- Sam probably didn’t know anything about that when it happened-” 

“Takashi,” Adam said, like he was warning him not to hide anything. 

“Hey, I’m gonna tell you, you just gotta promise not to freak out,” Shiro said, getting a warning glance from Adam. 

Shiro flashed him a smile, making Adam roll his eyes, and Shiro laughed. He could sometimes charm his way out of trouble. Sometimes. 

Shiro explained everything to him, as promised. 

“So… I don’t have to worry about some crazy alien witch trying to take over your body, right? Because, I love you, but I think that would be my actual last straw in life,” Adam said. 

“No, no, you don’t have to worry about that. She has zero connection to get in my head, especially with no Galra tech attached to me,” Shiro assured him. 

“Okay, good, because I’d hate to have to kick your ass,” Adam told him. 

“Yeah, right, we both know that’s not what would happen,” Shiro replied. 

“I dunno, Takashi… I think I’d have a fighting chance. I always win when we train.” 

“Hey, that’s not fair when you cheat.” 

“Playing on your weaknesses aren’t cheating.” 

“So my love for you is my weakness?” 

Adam shrugged, a mischievous look on his face. 

“You- okay, pretending to actually be hurt and then pinning me down when I check on you is definitely cheating, and you know it,” Shiro said, although with a smile on his face. 

“I’m a very poor actor, Takashi, how you fall for it every time is a wonder in itself given that big brain of yours.” 

“You’re right, next time I’m gonna win no matter what you say.” 

“Takashi, we both know that’s a lie.” 

Adam gets a childish scoff from the other, the two laughing about it right after. 

Later on, they go to meet the other paladins, Shiro introducing Adam to Lance, Pidge, Hunk, and Allura and Coran. 

“It’s lovely to meet you,” Allura said, each of them giving varying versions of “It’s nice to meet you,” and Lance about to try and tease Shiro before Pidge not-so-subtly elbowed the other in the side. 

Keith soon joined them, he and Adam smiling and hugging when they saw each other. 

“You’re not still causing trouble, are you?” Adam asked. 

“Ah, there it is,” Keith said, pulling back as Adam ruffled his hair. 

“In all seriousness, it seems like you’ve grown a lot. Shiro said you’re leading this Voltron… thing Sam told us about.” 

“Yeah, I am,” Keith confirmed, a bit of a shy smile at the fact Shiro was saying anything about him to Adam, although it wasn’t too surprising. Shiro expressed how proud of him he was, and he had always told Adam how proud he was as well. 

Adam had always been the more strict of the two once he did get closer to Keith, maybe a little harder on him, but he did it because he cared, even if Keith couldn’t recognize that at the time. 

“I’m sorry, for all the times I gave you a hard time, Adam,” Keith said, but Adam only smiled, shaking his head. 

“You were a kid. You had a hard time of it yourself. You weren’t even the worst cadet I dealt with on a daily basis.” 

“I still think James deserved that punch, though. I’m not sorry about that.” 

Adam and Shiro kinda shrugged that off. Once Shiro had kept Keith from getting booted out and banned from the Garrison, he had told Adam about it and their consensus was “Yeah, that kid deserved it. At least a little bit.” 

“Wait, wait, you punched James?!” Allura asked. 

“Oh, holy crap! That’s right!! I almost forgot about that- it was nuts,” Hunk said. 

“James totally deserved it though, even if I didn’t like Keith at the time,” Lance pointed out. 

“So what did he do to get punched?” Pidge asked, a bit amused at the idea of Keith as a cadet punching another cadet and Shiro having to pull some strings to keep him out of trouble. 

“I may, or may not, have screwed up our session in the simulator and so, of course, we all were gonna have the consequences, because team building or some shit like that, and James was pissed off,” Keith began. 

“Rightfully so, at first,” Lance added. 

“Yeah, until he opened his mouth,” Hunk said. 

“We got into it a little, he tried to say I was only here because of Shiro, and I said I could out fly anyone there,” Keith said. 

“Not a total lie,” Shiro muttered, getting nudged by Adam.

“And then?” Pidge asked, coaxing him to continue. 

“And then he said ‘is that what your mommy and daddy told you-’ And that’s about when I punched him.” 

By then, the team knew what had happened to Keith’s father, and of course they now knew Krolia. 

“Oh, yeah, he totally deserved that,” Pidge said, adjusting the glasses on their face. 

“Don’t you all enter the Garrison as children?” Coran asked, like he couldn't believe Keith was as hot-headed as a kid, although it really hadn't been so long ago.  

“Kind of. We start out in the school but they still run it like a simplified version of what we’ll see in the Garrison itself, and we’re still given the rank of cadets until we’re adults,” Pidge explained. 

“It’s less of an actual place in the ranks and more so separates them from the people actually in the Garrison. Like Takashi and I were instructors for the cadets, but we also had actual military-like duties as well. Training the cadets is just giving them what they need and a realistic look at what it will be like if they still proceed with the program and join the ranks,” Adam added. 

With that, he and Shiro and Keith sat down with the group to enjoy the bit of free time they had. 

Eventually, they were all spending time together, what little time they had before they needed to get right back to work. But right now, it was nice, peaceful… It felt like they were one big family together, with Shiro and Adam together, holding each other’s hand tightly in their own, with little to no intention of letting go.